在1908年倫敦奧運會上，來自美國賓夕法尼亞大學學生約翰·巴克斯特·泰勒與隊友一起奪得4×400米接力賽冠軍，成為奧運歷史上第一位黑人金牌得主。泰勒的賽跑天賦在高中階段就初見端倪，只可惜他在奧運會結束四個月之后就死于傷寒狀肺炎。

John Baxter Taylor, Jr., born on November 3, 1882 in Washington, D.C., was the first African-American to claim an Olympic gold medal in 1908. But just four months later, the life of Penn's John Baxter Taylor came to a sudden end.

Back in Central High School, he was the star on the track. He began running during his junior year, and was the anchor runner for Central's one-mile relay team at the Penn Relays his senior year. The team finished fifth in the championship race that year, and Taylor went on to be the best quarter-miler in the city.

Following his graduation from Central, Taylor spent one year at Brown Prep, also located in Philadelphia. He became the best prep school quarter-miler in the entire country. He won two of the most important meets of the year, the Princeton Interscholastics and the Yale Interscholastics, the latter in 50 3/5 seconds, the fastest high school or prep school time in the nation that year.

Taylor entered the University of Pennsylvania in the fall of 1903. During his student years here, Taylor contributed significantly to Penn's athletic standing. As a member of Penn's 1903, 1904, 1905, 1907 and 1908 track teams, Taylor (along with Nathaniel J. Cartmell and Guy Hastings) made Penn once again the champions on the track and field. Taylor's stride measured 8 feet 6 inches, the longest of any runner yet known at that time. He was indisputably the best quarter-miler in the college world, establishing the world's interscholastic record of 49.1 seconds for 440 yards in 1903 and setting a new record of 48.6 seconds for this event four years later. In 1907 he was also the indoor champion for 600 yards.

When the Olympics were held in England in July1908, shortly after his graduation from Penn, Taylor had two chances for the gold. His first opportunity came when he participated in the 400 meter race, doing well even though he was ill at the time. Unfortunately, when the race was called because of a disputed foul, bitter controversy ensued between the Americans and British and the Americans boycotted the rerunning of this race. Despite this disappointment, Taylor did bring home the gold as a member of America's 1600 meter (one mile) relay team; he and his teammates fellow Penn grad Nathaniel J. Cartmell, Philadelphian Melvin Sheppard and William F. Hamilton set a world record in this race.

Two African-Americans had earned medals at the 1904 Olympic games in St. Louis--Joe Stadler (from Cleveland) had won a silver medal in the standing high jump and George Poage (from the University of Wisconsin) had won two bronze medals for the 200-meter and 400-meter hurdles. But Taylor, in 1908, became the first African-American to win Olympic gold.

Unfortunately, John Baxter Taylor had only a few months in which to enjoy his successes as an Olympian. He died of typhoid pneumonia on December 2, 1908. Thousands of his Penn teammates, alumni and students gathered for the funeral at the Taylor family home at 3223 Woodland Avenue in West Philadelphia. Well-known trainer Mike Murphey eulogized Taylor as "the nicest man he had ever had to train; he never gave any bother, worked hard, and was always on time."

（實習生江巍 英語點津boeybb編輯） 


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