- Angelo Taylor
Angelo F. Taylor (born December 29, 1978) is an American athlete, winner of 400 m hurdles at the 2000 and
2008 Summer Olympics .Born in
Albany, Georgia , Angelo Taylor studied at theGeorgia Institute of Technology and won the NCAA title in 1998 and placed second in 1997. In 1998, Taylor also won a silver medal at the US National Championships. He went on to win the title three times from 1999 to 2001.Taylor made his debut in a major international meet at the 1999 World Championships, where he finished third in his heat in 400 m hurdles, but ran a third leg at the gold medal winning US 4x400 m relay team.
In 2000, Taylor ran a world-leading time at the Olympic Trials and entered the Sydney Games as a favorite. In a thrilling final, Taylor moved from fourth place to first over the final two hurdles and barely edged
Saudi Arabia 'sHadi Souan Somayli by 0.03 seconds in the closest finish in the history of the event. Taylor ran in the heat and semifinal of 4x400 m relay race, the finals team for which won the gold medal. On August 2, 2008, the International Olympic Committee stripped the gold medal from the U.S. men's 4x400-meter relay team, afterAntonio Pettigrew admitted using a banned substance.Wilson, Stephen. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080802/ap_on_sp_ol/oly_ioc_us_medals "IOC strips gold from 2000 US relay team."] "Associated Press". 2 August 2008.] Three of the four runners in the event final, including Pettigrew and twins Alvin andCalvin Harrison , and preliminary round runnerJerome Young , all have admitted or tested postive for performance enhancing drugs. Only Taylor and world record holderMichael Johnson were not implicated.Taylor was eliminated in the semifinals of the 2001 World Championships in 400 m hurdles while struggling with a sinus infection and flu, but won a gold as a member of US 4x400 m relay team. He didn't make the US World Championships team in 2003 and was unsuccessful in defending his Olympic title at the
2004 Summer Olympics , finishing fourth in the semifinal.In 2007 Taylor set a new personal best in the 400m and won the bronze medal in this event at the 2007 World Championships in
Osaka . He won another gold medal as part of the USA 4x400m relay team.At the
2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Taylor became a double Olympic champion, winning gold in the 400 metre hurdles and the 4x400 m relay.References
External links
* [http://www.angelotaylorusa.com www.AngeloTaylorUSA.com, The Official Web Site of Angelo Taylor]
* [http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Taylor_Angelo.asp USA Track and Field Biography]
*iaaf name|id=132489|name=Angelo Taylor
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