 Taylor in July 1907 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marshall Walter Taylor | ||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Worcester Whirlwind | ||||||||||||||
| Born | November 26, 1878 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | June 21, 1932 (aged 53) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Track | ||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | ||||||||||||||
| Rider type | Sprinter | ||||||||||||||
| Amateur teams | |||||||||||||||
| 1894–1895 | See-Saw Cycling Club | ||||||||||||||
| 1895 | Albion Cycling Club | ||||||||||||||
| Professional teams | |||||||||||||||
| 1896 | Worcester Cycle Manufacturing Company | ||||||||||||||
| 1899 | E. C. Stearns Bicycle Agency | ||||||||||||||
| 1900 | Iver Johnson's Arms & Cycle Works | ||||||||||||||
| Major wins | |||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (November 26, 1878 – June 21, 1932) was an American professional cyclist. Even by modern cycling standards, Taylor could be considered the greatest American sprinter of all time.
He was born and raised in Indianapolis, where he worked in bicycle shops and began racing multiple distances in the track and road disciplines of cycling. As a teenager, he moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, with his employer/coach/mentor and continued his successful amateur career, which included breaking track records.
Taylor turned professional in 1896, at the age of 18, living in cities on the East Coast and participating in multiple track events including six-day races. He moved his focus to the sprint event in 1897, competing in a national racing circuit, winning many races and gaining popularity with the public. In 1898 and 1899, he set numerous world records in race distances ranging from the quarter-mile (0.4 km) to the two-mile (3.2 km).
Taylor won the 1-mile sprint event at the 1899 world track championships to become the first African American to achieve the level of cycling world champion and the second Black athlete to win a world championship in any sport (following Canadian boxer George Dixon, 1890[1]). Taylor was also a national sprint champion in 1899 and 1900. He raced in the U.S., Europe and Australia from 1901 to 1904, beating the world's best riders. After a 2+1⁄2-year hiatus, he made a comeback in 1907–1909, before retiring at age 32 to his home in Worcester in 1910.
Towards the end of his life Taylor faced severe financial difficulties. He spent the final two years of his life in Chicago, Illinois, where he died of a heart attack in 1932. Throughout his career he challenged the racial prejudice he encountered on and off the track and became a pioneering role model for other athletes facing racial discrimination. Several cycling clubs, trails, and events in the U.S. have been named in his honor, as well as the Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis and Major Taylor Boulevard in Worcester. Other tributes include memorials and historic markers in Worcester, Indianapolis, and at his gravesite in Chicago. He has also been memorialized in film, music and fashion.
