John Taylor (athlete, 1882)

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John Taylor

John Taylor ( John Baxter Taylor ; born November 11, 1882 in Washington, DC , † December 2, 1908 in Philadelphia ) was an American athlete who was successful as a runner over 440 yards at the beginning of the 20th century. He was the first African American track and field athlete to win an Olympic gold medal.

Taylor, who starts for the Penn Track Team, has won four American championships:

  • AAU : 1907 (51.0 s )
  • IC4A : 1904 (49.2 s), 1907 (48.8 s) and 1908 (52.2 s)

He took part in the 1908 Olympic Games in London . After he had won the preliminary run with 50.8 s and the intermediate run with 49.8 s in the individual races over 400 meters , he was fourth and last in the final, in which three Americans and the Briton Wyndham Halswelle took part. Then he unexpectedly got a second chance: The race was canceled because of a rule violation - John Carpenter had deliberately tried to push the Briton off the track - and a repetition was scheduled. In protest against the disqualification of Carpenter, however, both Taylor and the third American, William Robbins , did not take part in the re-race and left Halswelle the gold medal without a fight.

That was not the end of the games for Taylor, however, as he was nominated together with William Hamilton , Nate Cartmell and Mel Sheppard for the Olympic relay (200 m / 200 m / 400 m / 800 m), which was only played at the Games in London . Taylor completed the 400-meter distance as the third runner, with his immediate competitor being the German Otto Trieloff . The team won in 3: 29.4 minutes ahead of Germany in 3: 32.4 minutes and Hungary in 3: 32.5 minutes.

In the 1908 Olympic year, Taylor graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia with a degree in veterinary medicine . However, he was never able to practice his profession: shortly after returning from London, he died of typhus .

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personal data
SURNAME Taylor, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Taylor, John Baxter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sprinter
DATE OF BIRTH November 11, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Washington, DC
DATE OF DEATH December 2, 1908
Place of death Philadelphia