Frederick Morgan Taylor (April 17, 1903 – February 16, 1975) was an American

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

and the first athlete to win three Olympic medals in the 400 m hurdles. He was the flag bearer for the United States at his last Olympics in 1932. In 1924, Taylor won the 400 m Olympic trials with a world best time of 52.6 s, which was accepted as a national record, but not as a world record. While winning the gold medal at the 1924 Olympics he clocked the same time, but knocked one hurdle, and the record was again not ratified by the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, coverin ...

(IAAF). In 1925, he won his second AAU title in the 440 yd hurdles in a world best time of 53.8 s, but this record was discounted too. Finally the IAAF accepted his 400 m record of 52.0 s set at the 1928 Olympic trials. While studying at

Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

, Taylor competed in both

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. He won the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

220 yd hurdle title in 1927 and finished second in the long jump in 1925. After graduating he worked as a salesman for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' and then as a teacher and athletics coach. His son F. Morgan Taylor Jr. also competed in track and field as a

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er.

References

External links

Hickok Sports History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Morgan 1903 births 1975 deaths Sportspeople from Sioux City, Iowa Track and field athletes from Iowa Grinnell Pioneers men's track and field athletes American male hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Sports world record setters Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen