Christian Taylor (athlete)

Born in Fayetteville, Georgia to Barbadian parents, he attended Our Lady of Victory Catholic School in Tyrone GA, and first learned how to triple jump. [7] he attended Sandy Creek High School and played for their football and track and field teams. He set state high school records in the long jump, triple jump and the 400-meter dash, later going on to score a hat-trick of titles in those events at the 2008 National Scholastic Indoor Championships.[8] He made his first international appearances while he was a high school student: he won the triple jump gold medal at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics and also claimed the long jump bronze.[9] The following year he was a finalist in both jumps at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics.[5]

Taylor went on to attend the University of Florida, recruited by coach Rana Reider, in 2009 and in his first year he won three titles at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships (long jump, triple jump, 4×400-meter relay). At the NCAA Indoor Championship he won the triple jump, came sixth in the long jump and helped Florida reach third on the podium in the relay. He closed his first year with a third-place finish in the triple jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Taylor established himself as the one of his country's best with a clearance of 17.18 m in March 2010, which made him the best American triple jumper that year.[10] He was unrivalled in the event collegiately as he won both the SEC Indoor and Outdoor titles, and completed an Indoor/Outdoor NCAA double. On top of this, he won two further SEC titles in the relay, was third in the long jump at the SEC Indoors, and jumped a personal record of 8.19 m as the SEC Outdoors runner-up.[8] Away from collegiate competition, he also won triple and long jump titles at the 2010 NACAC Under-23 Championships,[11] and was the silver medallist behind Kenta Bell at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[12]

He began his 2011 season with a personal and championship record triple jump of 17.36 m to claim the SEC Indoor title ahead of fellow Florida Gator Will Claye.[13] He was also runner-up in the relay and eighth in the long jump.[8] At the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships their positions were reversed, as Taylor finished second and Claye succeeded his teammate as the NCAA indoor champion.[14] The pair continued their rivalry at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and delivered one of the highest calibre triple jump contests in the history of the competition. A good wind conditions aided the jumpers to marks over 17.30 m in the opening rounds, then Taylor took the lead with a personal record of 17.40 m (wind at the 2.0 m/s limit). Claye regained the lead by a centimetre, only for Taylor to respond with a wind-assisted 17.80 m which was enough to secure a second consecutive NCAA Outdoor title.[15]

The two Florida Gators both took their talents to the 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where they repeated their top-two finish as Taylor claimed his first national title with a wind-assisted 17.49 m.[16] Taylor proved himself to be a contender for a world medal as he defeated all comers at the London Grand Prix, including the reigning world champion Phillips Idowu, with a personal best jump of 17.68 m.[17]

At the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, Taylor won the triple jump title with a distance of 17.96 m, a personal best for him and beating defending champion Phillips Idowu.[18] Idowu started the competition with a jump of 17.56 m. Then proceeded to jump 17.38 m and 17.70 m on his second and third attempt and looked poised to win the gold after jumping 17.77 m on his fourth attempt. Taylor never really looked like a serious gold medal threat before his fourth jump. He started with a no mark on his first attempt and only managed to jump 17.04 m and 17.40 m on his second and third attempt, respectively. On Taylor's fourth attempt, he leaped a distance of 17.96 m, a huge improvement from his previous personal best of 17.68 m, and was good enough for the gold medal. The jump was also the tenth best jump in history. Idowu could not respond to Taylor's distance and had to settle for the silver medal.[19]

He came second to Will Claye at both the USA Indoor Championships and the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, although his clearance of 17.63 m was an indoor personal best.[20] He defeated his rival at the 2012 Prefontaine Classic with a meet record jump of 17.62 m in June.[21]

Taylor defeated Claye by 8 cm at the Olympic Trials as both went on to represent the United States at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Third place at those trials, Walter Davis and no other American achieved a qualifying mark all season, so only the two Americans went to the Olympics.

At the Olympics, Taylor was first in the qualifying round. In the final, Taylor fouled his first two attempts, putting him in danger of being eliminated. On his third attempt he jumped 17.15 to move into 6th place, but more importantly securing an opportunity to take three more attempts. With his fourth jump, he went on to produce his best effort of the season 17.81 m (58 ft 5 in) to win the gold medal. Claye would go on to finish second with a jump of 17.62 m, capturing his second medal of the 2012 games after a bronze in the long jump. For the second year in a row, Taylor's 17.81m was the best triple jump in the world in 2012.

Taylor's coach, Rana Reider, was hired by British Athletics in late 2012 to work with elite-level British sprinters and jumpers at the High Performance Athletics Centre (HiPAC) at Loughborough University. Taylor followed Reider to the English Midlands after the 2012 London Olympics. Taylor talked about the transition to living and training in England in a "Feature Interview" for Track & Field News magazine April 2014 issue. He said the biggest challenge was the cooler weather (compared to what he enjoyed in Gainesville, Florida), but that he enjoyed living in an apartment in the center of Loughborough and being able to skateboard the one mile to the HiPAC facility.

In an April 2014 "Feature Interview" for Track & Field News, Taylor said that, after finishing 2013 ranked No. 2 in the world, he and Coach Reider planned to treat 2014 as "a down year", since there were no World or Olympic championships.[22] He planned to run a lot more. As a way of mixing-up his training, he planned to compete in some 400 Meter races in the United States, beginning with the Florida Relays in Gainesville on April 4–5, 2014. Taylor once ran 400 Meters in 45.34 seconds during his freshman year (2009) at the University of Florida. [Note: Running under 45 seconds would place Taylor amongst the world's elite quarter-milers.] At the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, Taylor ran 45.17 making him a unique dual threat.

Taylor at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix in 2015

Taylor opened season in a competitive event at Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix. His 18.04 m (59 ft 2 in) on his final attempt equalled the number 4 performer in history, Teddy Tamgho. Coming into the meet, that would be the third best mark, however earlier in the rounds 21-year-old Pedro Pablo Pichardo had jumped 18.06 m (59 ft 3 in), so Taylor was jumping just to try to get out of second place, Tamgho in third had already hobbled off the track injured.

This was the first competition in history to have two men jump over 18 metres, already called "the greatest triple jump competition ever.".[23] Two weeks later, Pichardo improved again to 18.08m and in July, Taylor became the second man in history to jump 18 metres twice in the same competition at Lausanne while improving his personal best to 18.06m.

Taylor overcame Pichardo at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. His jump of 18.21 m (59 ft 8 ³⁄₄ in) was the No. 2 jump in history and beat the Cuban by almost 50 cm. The jump ranks just 8 cm behind the World Record of Jonathan Edwards. It set a new American record in the event.[24][25] Taylor then went on to overtake his Cuban rival again at the final stop of the Diamond League,[26] taking home his fourth consecutive Diamond League title with a jump of 17.59m.

At the Olympic Trials, Claye beat Taylor 17.65m to 17.39m, but Taylor finished second and qualified to go to Rio to defend his Olympic championship from London. Chris Benard was the third American also qualifying to Rio.

In the Olympics in Rio, again Taylor was the No. 1 qualifier from the qualifying round. In the final, Taylor's first attempt was 17.86 m (58 ft 7 in).[27] This mark was enough to edge out his teammate Will Claye (17.76) and China's Dong Bin (17.58) This feat made Taylor the first repeat champion in the Triple Jump since 1976. Viktor Saneyev was the last to achieve this feat, and competed for the USSR, receiving 4 medals in his career. Following the competition Taylor said "The job is done. I never thought on my first jump that would be the gold medal. I wanted it so much. It came together, the stars aligned."

At the Prefontaine Classic, Taylor jumped the fourth best jump in history, 18.11 m (59 ft 4 ³⁄₄ in).[28] As defending champion, Taylor was given an automatic entry into the World Championships. As Diamond League Champion, he also earned an automatic entry into the World Championships, so he chose not to compete at the American championships, won by Claye in his personal best 17.91m. At the World Championships, Benard was the No. 1 qualifier, but a non-factor in the final. After Claye took the first round lead, Taylor took over the lead in the second and hit his 17.68m winner in the third round to successfully defend his world championship.