John Taylor ( athlete ) - wikipedia John Taylor ( athlete ) For other people named John Taylor, see John Taylor ( disambiguation ). John Taylor John Baxter Taylor Jr. Medal record Men 's athletics Representing the United States Olympic Games 1908 London Medley relay John Baxter Taylor Jr. ( November 3, 1882, Washington, D.C. -- December 2, 1908, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ) was an American track and field athlete, notable as the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal. Contents 1 Biography 2 1908 Olympics 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links Biography He was born in Washington D.C. to former slaves. The family settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he attended public schools and graduated from Central High School in 1902. He spent a year at Brown Preparatory School, also in Philadelphia, where he was the fastest high school quarter - miler in the country. As a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, he was the ICAAAA ( Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America ) champion in the quarter mile. He bested his personal time in 1907, and again was the ICAAAA quarter mile champion. He graduated from Penn 's School of Veterinary Medicine in 1908, and was a member of Sigma Pi Phi, the first black fraternity. ( 1 ) He was recruited by the Irish American Athletic Club in New York, and was its most prominent African American member. 1908 Olympics Taylor was a member of the gold medal - winning men 's medley relay team at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. He ran the third leg, performing the 400 meters. He followed William Hamilton and Nate Cartmell ( fellow athletes from the University of Pennsylvania ) and was followed by Mel Sheppard ( a fellow athlete from Brown Preparatory School ). In both the first round and the final, Taylor received a lead from Cartmell and passed one on to Sheppard. The team won both races, with times of 3 : 27.2 and 3 : 29.4. Taylor was the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal. His split for the final was 49.8 seconds. He advanced to the finals in the men 's 400 metres race at the 1908 Summer Olympics, winning his preliminary heat with a time of 50.8 seconds and his semifinal with 49.8 seconds. In the first running of the race, Taylor came in last place out of the four runners. However, teammate John Carpenter was disqualified after being accused of obstructing British runner Wyndham Halswelle and the race was ordered to be repeated without Carpenter. In protest at Carpenter 's disqualification, Taylor and fellow American William Robbins refused to compete in the second final. Wyndham Halswelle reluctantly ran the second final alone, with a time of 50 seconds, and was awarded the gold medal in the only walkover in Olympic history. Less than five months after returning from the Olympic Games in London, Taylor died of typhoid fever on 2 December 1908 at the age of 26. In his obituary, The New York Times called him `` the world 's greatest negro runner. '' In a letter to Taylor 's parents, Harry Porter, fellow Irish American Athletic Club member and acting President of the 1908 U.S. Olympic Team wrote : `` It is far more as the man ( than the athlete ) that John Taylor made his mark. Quite unostentatious, genial, ( and ) kindly, the fleet - footed, far - famed athlete was beloved wherever known... As a beacon of his race, his example of achievement in athletics, scholarship and manhood will never wane, if indeed it is not destined to form with that of Booker T. Washington. '' 1907 University of Pennsylvania track team, with their ICAAAA trophy. At the 1908 Olympic games. John Baxter Taylor 's death certificate. Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Taylor ( athlete ). Notes Cook, Theodore Andrea ( May 1909 ). The Fourth Olympiad London 1908 Official Report ( PDF ). London : British Olympic Association. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2007 - 09 - 27. Retrieved 2008 - 12 - 29. De Wael, Herman ( 2001 ). `` Athletics 1908 ''. Herman 's Full Olympians. Retrieved 24 July 2006. Greenberg, Stan ( 1987 ). Olympic Games : The Records. London : Guinness Books. ISBN 0 - 85112 - 896 - 3. Kieran, John ( 1977 ). The Story of the Olympic Games ; 776 B.C. to 1976. Philadelphia and New York : J.B. Lippincott Company. ISBN 0 - 397 - 01168 - 7. Wudarski, Pawel ( 1999 ). `` Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich '' ( in Polish ). Retrieved 24 July 2006. Williams, Craig ( 2010 ). The Olympian : An American Triumph. Bloomington, IN : iUniverse. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4502 - 6105 - 0. References Jump up ^ `` NEGRO RUNNER DEAD. ; John B. Taylor, Quarter Miler, Victim of Typhoid Pneumonia ''. The New York Times. 1908 - 12 - 03. ISSN 0362 - 4331. Retrieved 2013 - 06 - 02. Jump up ^ * May His Memory Never Wane Archived 2011 - 07 - 13 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` John Baxter Taylor Jr ''. Winged Fist. Retrieved 2018 - 03 - 24. External links Biography portal Biography at the University of Pennsylvania Evans, Hilary ; Gjerde, Arild ; Heijmans, Jeroen ; Mallon, Bill. `` John B. Taylor ''. Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Profiles from the Ivy League 's Black History New York TImes obituary Winged Fist Organization John Baxter Taylor Jr. - 1st African - American Olympic Gold Medalist John Taylor at Find a Grave Olympic champions in men 's 4 × 400 m relay Medley 1908 Hamilton, Cartmell, Taylor, Sheppard ( USA ) 4 × 400 m 1912 Sheppard, Lindberg, Meredith, Reidpath ( USA ) 1920 Griffiths, Lindsay, Ainsworth - Davis, Butler ( GBR ) 1924 Cochran, Helffrich, MacDonald, Stevenson ( USA ) 1928 Baird, Spencer, Alderman, Barbuti ( USA ) 1932 Fuqua, Ablowich, Warner, Carr ( USA ) 1936 Wolff, Rampling, Roberts, Brown ( GBR ) 1948 Harnden, Bourland, Cochran, Whitfield ( USA ) 1952 Wint, Laing, McKenley, Rhoden ( JAM ) 1956 Jenkins, Jones, Mashburn, Courtney ( USA ) 1960 Yerman, Young, G. Davis, O. Davis ( USA ) 1964 Cassell, Larrabee, Williams, Carr ( USA ) 1968 Matthews, Freeman, James, Evans ( USA ) 1972 Asati, Nyamau, Ouko, Sang ( KEN ) 1976 Frazier, Brown, Newhouse, Parks ( USA ) 1980 Valiulis, Linge, Chernetskiy, Markin ( URS ) 1984 Nix, Armstead, Babers, McKay ( USA ) 1988 Everett, Lewis, Robinzine, Reynolds, McKay, Valmon ( USA ) 1992 Valmon, Watts, Johnson, Lewis, Hall, Jenkins ( USA ) 1996 Smith, Harrison, Mills, Maybank, Rouser ( USA ) 2000 Chukwu, Monye, Bada, Udo - Obong, Awazie, Gadzama ( NGR ) 2004 Harris, Brew, Wariner, Williamson, Rock, Willie ( USA ) 2008 Merritt, Taylor, Neville, Wariner, Clement, Witherspoon ( USA ) 2012 Brown, Pinder, Mathieu, Miller ( BAH ) 2016 Hall, McQuay, Roberts, Merritt, Clemons, Verburg ( USA ) US National Championship winners in men 's 400 - meter dash 1876 - 1979 Amateur Athletic Union 1876 - 77 : Edward Merritt 1878 : Frank Brown 1879 - 84 : Lon Myers 1885 : H. Mason Raborg 1886 : John Robertson 1887 : Harvey Banks 1888 : Walter Dohm 1888 : T.J. Mahoney 1889 : Walter Dohm 1890 - 92 : William Downs 1893 : Edward Allen 1894 : Tom Keane 1895 - 97 : Thomas Burke 1898 - 1900 : Maxie Long 1901 : Howard Hayes 1902 : Fay Moulton 1903 : Harry Hillman 1904 : D.H. Meyer 1905 - 06 : Frank Waller 1907 : John Taylor 1908 : Harry Hillman 1909 : Edward Lindberg 1910 : William Hayes 1911 : Edward Lindberg 1912 : Thomas Halpin 1913 : Carroll Haff 1914 - 15 : Ted Meredith 1916 : Thomas Halpin 1917 : Frank Shea 1918 : Cornelius Shaughnessy 1919 - 20 : Frank Shea 1921 : William Stevenson 1922 : James Driscoll 1923 : Horatio Fitch 1924 : James Burgess 1925 : Cecil Cooke 1926 : Ken Kennedy 1927 : Hermon Phillips 1928 : Ray Barbuti 1929 : Reggie Bowen 1930 - 31 : Vic Williams 1932 : Bill Carr 1933 - 34 : Ivan Fuqua 1935 : Eddie O'Brien 1936 : Harold Smallwood 1937 - 38 : Ray Malott 1939 : Erwin Miller 1940 - 41 : Grover Klemmer 1942 - 43 : Cliff Bourland 1944 : Elmore Harris 1945 : Herb McKenley ( JAM ) * James Herbert 1946 : Elmore Harris 1947 : Herb McKenley ( JAM ) * Dave Bolen 1948 : Herb McKenley ( JAM ) * Mal Whitfield 1949 : George Rhoden ( JAM ) * Hugh Maiocco ( 3 ) 1950 : George Rhoden ( JAM ) * Tom Cox ( 3 ) 1951 : George Rhoden ( JAM ) * Dick Maiocco ( 3 ) 1952 : Mal Whitfield 1953 : Jesse Mashburn 1954 : Jim Lea 1955 : Charles Jenkins 1956 : Tom Courtney 1957 : Reggie Pearman 1958 - 59 : Eddie Southern 1960 - 61 : Otis Davis 1962 - 63 : Ulis Williams 1964 : Mike Larrabee 1965 : Ollan Cassell 1966 - 69 : Lee Evans 1970 - 71 : John Smith 1972 : Lee Evans 1973 - 74 : Maurice Peoples 1975 : Dave Jenkins ( GBR ) * Fred Newhouse 1976 : Maxie Parks 1977 : Robert Taylor 1978 : Maxie Parks 1979 : Willie Smith 1980 - 1992 The Athletics Congress 1980 : Willie Smith 1981 - 82 : Cliff Wiley 1983 : Sunder Nix 1984 - 85 : Mark Rowe 1986 : Darrell Robinson 1987 : Butch Reynolds 1988 : Tim Simon 1989 : Antonio Pettigrew 1990 : Steve Lewis 1991 : Antonio Pettigrew 1992 : Danny Everett 1992 onwards USA Track & Field 1993 : Michael Johnson 1994 : Antonio Pettigrew 1995 - 96 : Michael Johnson 1997 : Antonio Pettigrew 1998 - 99 : Jerome Young 2000 : Michael Johnson 2001 : Derrick Brew 2002 : Angelo Taylor 2003 : Tyree Washington 2004 - 05 : Jeremy Wariner 2006 : Andrew Rock 2007 : Angelo Taylor 2008 - 09 : LaShawn Merritt 2010 : Greg Nixon 2011 : Tony McQuay 2012 - 13 : LaShawn Merritt 2014 : Gil Roberts 2015 : David Verburg 2016 : LaShawn Merritt 2017 : Fred Kerley Notes Note 1 : In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships OT : The 1920, 1928, 1932, and since 1992, championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Taylor_(athlete)&oldid=862128150 '' Categories : 1882 births 1908 deaths Sportspeople from Washington, D.C. Central High School ( Philadelphia ) alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni American male sprinters African - American male track and field athletes Athletes ( track and field ) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Deaths from typhoid fever Infectious disease deaths in Pennsylvania American veterinarians Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Hidden categories : CS1 : Julian -- Gregorian uncertainty Webarchive template wayback links CS1 Polish - language sources ( pl ) Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Français 한국어 Italiano 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Slovenščina 4 more Edit links This page was last edited on 2 October 2018, at 10 : 41 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. 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Question: first african american to win an olympic gold medal
Answer: John Baxter Taylor Jr.