The Olympic moment sparking a conversation about caregiving

At the Olympic Games in Milan on Feb. 16, Team USA bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor made history by taking home gold, becoming the most decorated Black athlete in Winter Games history. But the moment was special for another reason: Immediately after her win, Taylor ran to hug her nanny, Macy, who helps raise her two children with special needs.

“It took so many people to be here. It took so much work for everybody,” Taylor told the press after her win. “My husband. My kids. My nanny Macy. My nannies along the way. My parents. Everybody. I’m just so grateful right now.”

The 41-year-old’s words resonated with many parents. Hype Women founder Erin Gallagher spoke about the moment in an Instagram post, alongside an image of Taylor hugging Macy. “Can we talk about how much support we need as women to achieve our dreams with ALL we carry?” She called Taylor’s nanny “an integral part of her childcare team” and an “irreplaceable contributor to [Taylor’s] ability to do her job.”

The organization For All Mothers also acknowledged how important it is for Taylor to thank her caregiving team, writing in its own Instagram post, “Yesterday Elana Meyers Taylor publicly thanked her nannies (past and present), recognizing the village that helped make everything possible.”

It added, “Behind every elite performance is a family that shows up, too.”

The parenting website Pink Raccoon Company also honored the moment in an Instagram post, writing, “When Elana Meyers Taylor hugged her nanny like she was her best friend, I felt that. Life is so busy, and the person who helps your village function is worth all the gold.”

Nannies are becoming more visible 

In a column for the Chicago Tribune, writer Heidi Stevens explained why she cheered when Taylor acknowledged her nanny.

“The caregivers who fill children’s early years with love and safety and playgrounds and books and songs and snacks aren’t doing it so their parents can go off and do more important things, like win gold medals,” she wrote. “They’re doing it because important things — essential things, life’s biggest things — happen simultaneously.”

Stevens noted that many caregivers — including nannies, as well as grandparents who help raise kids — often “work diligently behind the scenes.”

“But that’s not because their scene isn’t worth our gaze,” she wrote. “It’s because we rarely, as a society, train our lens there. Meyers Taylor just did.”

Taylor follows other figures in the public eye who have acknowledged that their nannies help make their success possible. On Mother’s Day in 2023, actress Busy Philipps took to Instagram to thank her caregiving team, past and present, for their role in her life.

“I wouldn’t have made it this far as a mom and a human without the incredible women who’ve helped me show up for my kids as my best self,” the mom of two wrote. “Their love and care for my kids has allowed me to go to work and travel with the knowledge that the two humans most important to me will be taken care of.”

Chrissy Teigen echoed the sentiment in her own Mother’s Day Instagram post that year, writing she’s “grateful for all the people who make it possible for me to be the best mother I can possibly be.”

“I think we’re in a moment where we’re being more honest about how success actually happens,” Naaz Nichols, chief experience officer at Care.com, tells Yahoo via email. “As a leader and a mom, I know it’s rarely a solo act. Caregivers are part of the team. They make early mornings, travel and late meetings possible. Their work is steady, skilled and deeply impactful — even when it happens out of the spotlight.”

Taylor’s nod to her nanny amid her Olympic triumph comes on the heels of Care.com’s 2026 Cost of Care Report, which found that 45% of parents say they don’t have enough help. Those who do report spending 20% of their income on child care alone.

Meanwhile, among the 91% of parents who earn income, most (84%) say they would have a more fulfilling career if child care were free, while 61% say caregiving logistics and cost have dampened their career ambitions. Taylor’s public acknowledgment of her nanny underscores a reality that many high-achieving working parents know well: child care support isn’t just a luxury — it’s often essential to success.

For people in caregiving, that’s an important distinction.

“When someone at the top of their field publicly acknowledges their caregiver, it does more than say thank you,” Nichols added. “It reinforces that care is essential work, not background support. Moments like this create visibility. The opportunity now is to ensure that visibility translates into lasting respect and recognition for the caregivers who power so many of the achievements we celebrate.”

Brandi Jordan, owner and founder of the Cradle Company, who works as a nanny mentor and placement specialist, told Yahoo via email that seeing Taylor embrace her nanny at the Olympics normalizes the idea that success is rarely achieved alone, calling child care part of the “infrastructure.”

“Nannies are not just ‘help,’” she said. “They are professionals contributing directly to a family’s stability and a parent’s ability to perform at a high level. That is true whether someone is an Olympian or a parent working a demanding corporate job. The need for support is universal. From a cultural perspective, moments like this shift the narrative from secrecy or guilt about having child care to pride in building a support team. That matters, and I’m so happy we are seeing this more often.”

Katie Provinziano, managing director of Westside Nannies, a Los Angeles-based agency that works with many high-profile clients, told Yahoo over the phone that she got “emotional” watching Taylor champion her support system on a public stage.

“It just goes to show that you really need to create your village,” she said, particularly when you are raising children with special needs. “Her dream was, some would say, impossible … so, having a nanny for her, when she’s training and traveling all over the world, is absolutely essential.”