BEIJING — Laura Nolte and Mariama Jamanka added to Germany’s record haul of Olympic medals, while American Elana Meyers Taylor extended her medal record, too.

The German sliding domination of the Beijing Games continued Saturday, with Nolte driving to gold and Jamanka winning the silver in the women’s bobsled competition – and Meyers Taylor, in possibly her last race, grabbing the bronze for the fifth medal of her Olympic career.

That’s more than any Black athlete in Winter Olympic history, the most by any women’s bobsledder at the Olympics and two more than any other Olympic bobsledder, male or female, has won for the United States.

“That is overwhelming,” Meyers Taylor said. “It’s so crazy to hear that stat and know that I’m part of a legacy that’s bigger than me.”

Nolte and Deborah Levi won with ease, finishing four runs in 4 minutes, 3.96 seconds. Jamanka, the 2018 Olympic champion, and Alexandra Burghardt were second in 4:04.73. Meyers Taylor and Olympic rookie Sylvia Hoffman were third in 4:05.48.

“I can’t believe it,” Nolte said. “It’s what we’ve wanted all along. This was our dream. Winning Olympic gold was our dream.”

Gold was Meyers Taylor’s dream, too. But a fifth medal – clearly, she wasn’t disappointed whatsoever. Meyers Taylor smacked the top of her sled in celebration as she crossed the line knowing that the medal was clinched, hopped out and gave Hoffman a hug before throwing her fists into the air.

“I went with the fastest woman out here, because I’m the fastest brakewoman out here,” said Hoffman, who wants to start driving.

Meyers Taylor was in isolation when the Olympics started after testing positive for the coronavirus, meaning she had to give up her role as one of the two U.S. flagbearers at the opening ceremony.

She’ll carry the U.S. flag into the closing ceremony on Sunday. After two weeks of driving fast, a nice slow walk might be the perfect way to transition into whatever comes next.

“I’m going to take some time and really think about this,” Meyers Taylor said. “It’s going to be really hard to top this Olympics. Two medals and now closing it out with flagbearer, it’s going to be really hard to top that.”

MEN’S BOBSLED

Bethel native Frank Del Duca and his team is tied for 14th place after the first two rounds of the four-man bobsled, and he is getting high marks from his colleagues.

Del Duca and his team of Carlo Valdes, Jimmy Reed and Hakeem Abdul-Saboor finished their two runs Saturday in 1:58.82.

“These guys do a great job on and off the ice,” Del Duca said. “I have a ton of respect for them. I’ve been in many different races with them over the years as a push athlete and now as a driver. It’s pretty cool to come together on the biggest stage and just put together the best results we can. I know we’re digging deep to do the best we can, and it’s a great feeling to be with them.”

Of the eight bobsledders that the U.S. had on the ice for the four-man race, only two – Valdes, who is retiring, and Abdul-Saboor, who plans on sticking around for a run at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games – had Olympic experience before the Beijing Games.

Valdes gave Del Duca high marks.

“Frank, for his first Olympics, he’s handled it great,” Valdes said. “He’s business as usual. He’s not overthinking anything.”

Hunter Church, pushed by Josh Williamson, Kris Horn and Charlie Volker, is the top U.S. sled in the field, placing 13th so far in 1:58.61.

“We’ve got a big opportunity tomorrow to climb back and get into the top 10,” Church said.

Going into the final two competitive runs of the season on Sunday, Church said he’d be holding nothing back.

“There’s nothing left to chance tomorrow,” Church said. “I don’t care what I’m feeling. I’m going to be numb and I’m going to be ready to go.”

Francesco Friedrich of Germany and his team took the lead, a mere 0.03 seconds ahead of fellow German Johannes Lochner – the first-heat leader – and his team.

Canada’s Justin Kripps is third, finishing in 1:57.38 with Ryan Sommer, Cam Stones and Benjamin Coakwell in his sled. No one else is within a half-second of the lead.

ALPINE SKIING

The last Alpine skiing race of the Beijing Olympics was moved from Saturday to Sunday because of too-strong wind, making Mikaela Shiffrin wait to get one last chance to bring home a medal from China.

Gusts at up to about 40 mph led to the announcement of two one-hour delays for the mixed team parallel event, before the International Ski Federation eventually said it would not be possible to hold the competition at all on Saturday. About 75 minutes later, after what the ski federation called a meeting “to discuss the potential rescheduling of the event,” the race was shifted to Sunday at 9 a.m.

The 2022 Olympics end Sunday.

The team event would be Shiffrin’s sixth race of the Beijing Games. Shiffrin’s haul from past Olympics includes two golds, but her best showing in five individual events in Beijing was ninth place in the super-G.

Otherwise, she was 18th in the downhill and ended up with “Did Not Finish” results next to her name for three races: giant slalom, slalom and Alpine combined.

FIGURE SKATING

Arbitrators have rejected a last-ditch request by American figure skaters to have their silver medals awarded before the end of the Olympics.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said early Sunday in Beijing that it dismissed the appeal by the nine skaters, who finished second in the team event marred by a doping positive from 15-year-old Russian Kamila Valieva.

It did not elaborate on its decision, and said it would release details in upcoming days. The panel, with arbitrators from Denmark, France and China, met for 2 1/2 hours Saturday evening.

In an earlier decision, CAS had allowed Valieva to compete in the women’s event after her doping positive went public following the Russians’ victory in the team event. The International Olympic Committee responded by saying that no medals would be awarded in any event in which Valieva finished in the top three.

Losing the case means the U.S. skaters will receive their medals months, maybe even years, from now, after Valieva’s case winds its way through hearings and appeals. She led the Russians to a convincing victory in the team event. If that result is overturned, the U.S. would get gold medals.

The skaters had argued, without success, that they should at least receive the silvers before Sunday night’s closing ceremony.

MEN’S HOCKEY

Slovakia has won its first Olympic hockey medal in the nation’s history by defeating Sweden 4-0 to win the bronze medal .

Juraj Slafovsky scored two goals for Slovakia. Slafkovsky at 17 is the youngest player in the tournament and leads all scorers with seven goals. Slovakia is coached by Canada-born Craig Ramsay. Ramsay played 14 NHL seasons and was an assistant in the league for two decades.

Finland plays the Russians for gold on Sunday.