Taylor, John (1882–1908), was the first African American athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games . Taylor was a member of the victorious American 1,600-meter relay team at the 1908 Olympics in London. (One meter equals about 3 1/4 feet.) The race was divided into four legs (sections). Taylor ran the third leg. Taylor also reached the finals of the individual 400-meter race with two other Americans, but because of a dispute, the Americans refused to compete in the final race.
John Baxter Taylor, Jr., was born in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 3, 1882. During his childhood, Taylor’s family moved to Philadelphia. There he attended Central High School, where he was captain of the track team. After graduating from high school, Taylor enrolled at the Brown Preparatory School and was a member of the undefeated 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) relay team.
Taylor entered the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania in 1903. In 1905, he enrolled in the university’s School of Veterinary Medicine, graduating in 1908. While at Penn, Taylor established himself as the fastest collegiate quarter-mile runner in the country, setting interscholastic records for the event in 1904 and 1907. Taylor died of typhoid fever on Dec. 2, 1908, at the age of 26, only a few months after his Olympic triumph.
