Bobsledder from Douglasville pledges to donate brain to CTE research

U.S. bobsledder and pilot of USA-1 Elana Meyers Taylor announced Tuesday she will donate her brain to be used for research on concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy by the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

After suffering four concussions that she knows of, Meyers Taylor— from Douglasville — told USA TODAY that she decided to donate her brain because women are the largest sufferers of concussions, and yet their brains are largely underrepresented in research studies.

“We’re taking four to five, sometimes six or seven Gs on our body every time we go down the track,” Meyers Taylor said, according to USA TODAY. “And then the crashing. We use motorcycle helmets. Motorcycle helmets are meant for one crash... They’re made to prevent bad things from happening, and they do. But at the end of the day, who knows how much they can undergo in a bobsled? Bobsled is just a violent sport.”

Meyers Taylor, who won a silver medal in the Sochi Games and a bronze in Vancouver, joins Canadian hockey gold medalists Angela Ruggeiro and Hayley Wickenheiser who are expected to announce they will also donate their brains to concussion research on Tuesday.

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