Annika Taylor (born 4 June 1993) is a cross-country skier with joint British and American nationality.

Early life and education

Born in

Truckee, California Truckee is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 16,180, reflecting an increase of 2,316 from the 13,864 counted in the 2 ...

, Taylor is the daughter of Betsy and Peter Taylor. She holds British and American citizenship as her father is originally from the United Kingdom. She has been cross-country skiing since the age of 2 and racing since the age of 5. As a junior, she raced for California's Auburn Ski Club and the Far West Nordic Ski Education Association, winning three CNISSF State Championships and notching three top-10 finishes at the USSA Junior Championships. After graduating from

Truckee High School Truckee High School is one of two high schools in the Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District. The district is based in the Lake Tahoe area town of Truckee in eastern Nevada County, California. History During the 1940s, plans were made to build a ...

, she attended the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

. She raced for the

New Hampshire Wildcats The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the College athletics in the United States, American intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of New Hampshire (UNH), located in Durham, New Hampshire, Durham. The Bobcat, wildcat is the ...

skiing team from 2011 to 2015, while pursuing a degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and graduating in 2015 May.

Skiing career

2012-2013 season

In 2013 January, Taylor won the 15 km free mass start at

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

Winter Carnival, which is her first FIS race win of her career.

2013-2014 season

In 2013 November, she changed her nationality from the United States to the United Kingdom. In 2014 January, her first racing for British came at the Swiss National Championships in

Leysin Leysin is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in the Aigle (district), Aigle district of Switzerland. It is first mentioned around 1231–32 as ''Leissins'', in 1352 as ''Leisins''. Located ...

. In 2014 February, she competed in the 2014 FIS U23 Cross-Country World Championships at

Val di Fiemme 300px, Location of the Fiemme Valley in Trentino. 300px, The Passo_Lusia.html" ;"title="Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia">Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia. Fiemme Valley (, ) is a valley in the Trentino Provinces of Italy, province, i.e. the southern ...

, her best result was 35th in the Skiathlon.

2014-2015 season

In 2015 February, she won the 5 km free at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

Winter Carnival, which is her second FIS race win of her career. In 2015 March, she competed in the 2015 NCAA Skiing Championships at Lake Placid. She raced to 7th in the 15 km classic, the mark earned her

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n status.

2015-2016 season

After graduating from university in 2015 May, she started skiing full-time and continued skiing for British National Team. At the same time, she joined the Sugar Bowl Academy, which is based in

Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vill ...

. In 2015 November, she made her

FIS Cross-Country World Cup The FIS Cross-Country World Cup is an annual cross-country skiing competition, arranged by the International Ski Federation (FIS) since 1981. The competition was arranged unofficially between 1973 and 1981, although it received provisional recogn ...

debut in

Ruka Ruka may refer to: People Given name *, Japanese actress *, Japanese football player *, Japanese snowboarder * (稲場るか, born 2000), Japanese AV actress * (佳苗るか, born 1993), Japanese screenwriter and former AV actress *, Japanese profe ...

, placed 50th in the Sprint classic. In 2016 February, she competed in the 2016 FIS U23 Cross-Country World Championships at

Râșnov Râșnov (; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Ruusenåå''; Latin: ''Rosnovia'') is a town in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 15,920 as of 2021. It is located at about southwest of the city of Brașov and about the s ...

, her best result was 30th in the 10 km free. At the end of 2016 season, she competed in the

2016 Ski Tour Canada The 2016 Ski Tour Canada was a cross-country skiing competition held as part of the 2015–16 FIS Cross-Country World Cup. It was the first tour of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup held in Canada. It began in Gatineau on March 1, 2016, and ended ...

, placed 42nd overall.

2016-2017 season

In 2016 May, she moved to

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

and joined the Team Coop Talent, which is the elite branch off of the

Lillehammer SK Lillehammer Skiklub is a Norwegian skiing (Nordic and alpine) club from Lillehammer, Norway. It was founded in 1883. It is best known for arranging Birkebeinerrennet together with Rena IL. It has been represented by several able sportspeople, su ...

. In 2017 February, she competed in the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 was the 40th World Championships in nordic skiing and took place in Lahti, Finland from 22 February to 5 March 2017.

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

, her best result was 38th in the sprint freestyle and 30 km freestyle mass start.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

World Championships

World Cup

Season standings

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Annika 1993 births Living people People from Truckee, California Sportspeople from Nevada County, California American female cross-country skiers British female cross-country skiers American people of English descent New Hampshire Wildcats athletes Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic cross-country skiers for Great Britain 21st-century American sportswomen