She reached the pinnacle of her athletic career in 2004, beginning with a win at the Mt. SAC Relays in a meet record time, and a personal best beating run of 54.36 seconds for second at Golden Spike Ostrava. At the 2004 United States Olympic Trials she improved even further, finishing as runner-up to Sheena Johnson with a time of 53.36 seconds. Gaining her first ever berth on the Olympic team, Taylor set her sights on the 2004 Athens Olympics. She reached the Olympic hurdles final and took seventh place with a run of 54.97 seconds. She closed the season with a bronze medal at the 2004 IAAF World Athletics Final. Her new best time of 53.36 ranked her as the fifth fastest 400 m hurdler of 2004.