The U.S. Olympic women’s bobsled and skeleton racers spent this week going through their final preparations in advance of arrivals this weekend at the Milan Cortina Games. They were running, lifting weights, strategizing, whatever they could to get ready.
They also worked on their hair.
Well, technically, they didn’t do anything to their hair. They had someone fly from California to Austria to do the job. Jessica Sinclair doesn’t know much about sliding and had never seen Europe before this week, but when five-time Olympic bobsled medalist Elana Meyers Taylor — a past client — called and asked if she wanted a most unusual booking, she packed up her gear and got on a plane.
“It’s like everybody hasn’t had time to take care of themselves, and everybody seems like they’ve not being able to do the things that make them feel kind of normal for a hot second,” Sinclair said. “And so, pretty much everybody needed something that made them just feel pretty and taken care of.”
All six of the U.S. women who are set to compete in bobsled at the Olympics — Meyers Taylor, Kaillie Humphries Armbruster, Kaysha Love, Azaria Hill, Hempfield graduate Jasmine Jones and Jadin O’Brien — got some sort of treatment from Sinclair, most of them posting the proof and high praise on Instagram as well. The U.S. women’s skeleton Olympians, Kelly Curtis and Mystique Ro, also got in Sinclair’s chair, Meyers Taylor said.
A few others in the U.S. camp saw Sinclair as well. Haircuts, trims, conditioning, color, whatever they needed, Sinclair provided.
Look good, feel good, race good. At least, that’s the plan.
“I feel like a major part of being a woman isn’t just necessarily like trying to look good for other people,” Meyers Taylor said. “You want to be able to look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, I feel good, I look good,’ all that kind of stuff. So, just having the opportunity to get our hair done and feel pretty again when you felt like all winter long that you’re just trying to keep it together … it can make a big difference.”
Virtually everyone in the U.S. bobsled and skeleton camp has been on the road in Europe since November. And yes, when racing, everyone wears helmets, so it’s not like Sinclair’s work is going to often be on display.
But after a few months of grinding and getting ready for the Olympics, obviously the biggest stage in the sport, any edge can help. And taking a little mental break for some self-care, Meyers Taylor said, just felt right before going through Olympic processing over the coming days.
“To have a second to just like take a deep breath and relax, and have our hair and our scalp massaged, it’s really nice,” Meyers Taylor said. “They’ll go to processing and thanks to Jessica, they’ll look cute in their pictures, which I love.”
Meyers Taylor called the Sacramento area home a few years ago, which is where she met Sinclair. Meyers Taylor now lives in Texas, but Sinclair came to mind when the idea got hatched to bring someone in to help the Olympic team get their hair right before heading to Cortina d’Ampezzo, where the sliding events will be held.
“She can do Black people’s hair, white women’s hair, Jessica is a jack of all trades. She could do everything,” Meyers Taylor said. “So, that’s why I was like, ‘Well, if there’s one person we could bring out, it would be Jessica, because she could do it all.’ ”
For her part, Sinclair expects to be back at her salon bright and early Friday morning. She got to see her first sliding track on this quick trip to Austria, and it’s a safe bet she’ll be cheering for her new clients when the racing happens next month.
“It’s kind of one of those things where you know you’re doing something important,” Sinclair said. “You don’t really like think about it too much. You just kind of just say, ‘I should do this.’ I did, and then I got here and I was like, ‘Yes, I should definitely do this.’ ”
