- Megan Taylor
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Megan Taylor Personal information Full name Megan Devenish Taylor Country represented United Kingdom
Born 25 October 1920 Died 23 July 1993 (aged 72) Medal recordCompetitor for United Kingdom
Ladies' Figure skating World Championships Gold 1939 Prague Ladies' singles Gold 1938 Stockholm Ladies' singles Silver 1937 London Ladies' singles Silver 1936 Paris Ladies' singles Silver 1934 Oslo Ladies' singles European Championships Silver 1939 London Ladies' singles Silver 1938 St. Moritz Ladies' singles Silver 1937 Prague Ladies' singles Bronze 1936 Berlin Ladies' singles Megan Devenish Taylor (later Mandeville, later Ellis, 25 October 1920 – 23 July 1993) was a British figure skater competitive in the 1930s. She won the World Championships in 1938 and 1939.
She was born in Rochdale and died in Jamaica. Taylor's father was Phil Taylor, a speed skater.[1]
Contents
Career
Megan and fellow Brit Cecilia Colledge participated in the 1932 Winter Olympics. They were virtually the same age—Colledge was 11 years and 68 days old, and Taylor was 11 years and 102 days. They are the youngest ever female competitors in any Olympic sport and the youngest ever competitors at the Winter Olympics.[2][3] Taylor finished seventh, with Colledge following in eighth in the singles competition. Sonja Henie, the dominant figure in women's figure skating at the time, won her second Olympic gold medal here.
Taylor finished second behind Henie at the World Championships in 1934 and 1936. After Henie retired in 1936, Taylor and Colledge competed for prominence. Colledge won the Worlds in 1937, while Taylor won in 1938 and 1939. Taylor placed second behind Colledge three times at the European Championships (1937, 1938, and 1939).
After her retirement from amateur competition, Taylor toured with the Ice Capades.
Competitive highlights
Event 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 Winter Olympic Games 7th World Championships 7th 4th 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st European Championships 4th 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd British Championships 1st 1st 1st * * 2nd 2nd 2nd *Did not participate
Further reading
- E.R. Hall & T.D. Richardson - Champions all: camera studies by E.R. Hall (Frederick Muller, 1938)
- Richardson T.D - Modern Figure Skating (Methuen, 1938)
References
- ^ A Straight Line Walk Across London, accessed 21 July 2006.
- ^ Google cache of "Between the wars", accessed 21 July 2006.
- ^ SKATING A BRIEF HISTORY OF ICE & The NATIONAL ICE SKATING ASSOCIATION of Great Britain, by Denis L. Bird, accessed 21 July 2006.
External links
- profile
- World Figure Skating Championships results, 1930-1939
- European Figure Skating Championships results, 1930-1939
Categories:- 1920 births
- 1993 deaths
- British female single skaters
- Olympic figure skaters of Great Britain
- Figure skaters at the 1932 Winter Olympics
- People from Rochdale
- British figure skating biography stubs
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