Christian Taylor

Christian Taylor is a track and field athlete born on 18th June 1990. He is a native of Fayetteville city of Georgia in the United States. Christian specializes in the Triple Jump and represents the USA in that sport.

Background

Christian Taylor was born to Ian Taylor and Stephanie Taylor. His parents are originally from Barbados and immigrated to the US before he was born. Christian still has ancestral roots in Barbados. He has a sister, Kaitlyn Taylor.

Christian first learned to Triple Jump while studying at Our Lady of Victory Catholic School. Later, he moved to Sandy Creek High School, where he set the high school state records and won the hat-trick of titles in Long Jump, Triple Jump, and 400m Sprints at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in 2008. Christian also played football for his high school team.

After graduating from high school, Christian Taylor joined the University of Florida, where he was recruited by Rana Reider. As a freshman, he bagged Long Jump, Triple Jump, and 4x400m Relay titles at the Southern Conference. Taylor had represented his college team in NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

In 2020, Christian Taylor acquired his Bachelor of Science degree in Online Sports Management from the University of Florida’s College of Health and Human Performance.

Rise to Glory

Christian Taylor received his first career breakthrough in 2007 when he won the Triple Jump title and a Bronze medal in Long Jump at the World Youth Athletics Championships. The following year, he won the Silver medal and a Bronze in Long Jump and Triple Jump at the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

In 2010, while representing the University of Florida, Christian had won NCAA Indoor title and NCAA Outdoor title in Triple Jump. That year, in June, he made his senior national debut at the US Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where he won the Silver medal in Triple Jump. In July, Christian won the titles in Triple Jump and Long Jump at NACAC U23 Championships.

In 2011, Christian became a National Outdoor Champion in Triple Jump at the US Championships. The following year, he won the Triple Jump title at the London Grand Prix. In July 2014, Christian clinched the title in Triple Jump at the British Athletics Grand Prix in Glasgow.

Christian Taylor was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team at the London Olympics and Rio Olympics in Triple Jump.

Major Achievements

Christian Taylor’s major international achievement after turning professional was crowning as a World Champion in Triple Jump by leaping 17.96m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships. He would go on to claim three World Championships titles in Triple Jump in 2015, 2017, and 2019.

In 2012, Christian won the Silver medal in Triple Jump with a leap of 17.63m at the World Indoor Championships. That year, in August, he made his Olympics debut at the London Olympics and successfully emerged as Olympic Champion in Triple Jump by leaping at a distance of 17.81m. The following year, Taylor finished 4th at the World Athletics Championships.

Christian Taylor has 7 Diamond League titles in Triple Jump (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019) under his belt, most by any Triple Jumper in the world. In 2014, he helped the US relay team to clinch the 4x400m Relay title by clocking 2:57.25s at the World Relay Championships.

In 2016, Christian successfully defended his Triple Jump Olympic title at Rio Olympics. In 2018, he clinched the Gold medal double in Triple Jump and Mixed 4x400m Relay at the Continental Cup.

Christian Taylor will make his appearance in his third Olympics at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and is a strong contender for a Gold medal in the Triple Jump.