Christian Taylor won four NCAA titles from 2009-11 before turning pro after his junior year.
Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Christian Taylor Once Again a Student-Athlete
Thursday, April 25, 2019 | Track and Field
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By: Zach Dirlam
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Christian Taylor has won everything from NCAA championships (four of them in a Gators uniform) to Olympic gold medals (a pair representing the United States), but he is quite nervous for Saturday's triple jump competition at the Tom Jones Memorial.
Why all the anxiety for a meet that's the professional equivalent to a preseason game? Because of all the places in the world Taylor's triple jumped since his freshman season with the Gators in 2009, Florida's Percy Beard Track is, incredibly, not on the list.
"I want to have a lot of fun, but the nerves are truly there," Taylor said. "I want to end up with the stadium record."
Breaking the 39-year-old Percy Beard Track record of 16.86 meters should be easy work for Taylor. At his season-opening meet last week in California, he reached 17.18 meters with a shortened approach – again, think preseason rust busting.
There is also the simple fact Taylor is one of the greatest athletes in the sport's history.
In the last decade alone, he has won meets in 16 countries, including gold medals at consecutive Olympics – London in 2012, then Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in 2016. He snagged his first world title in Daegu, South Korea as a 21-year-old college junior turned professional in 2011. Four years later, after changing his takeoff leg to combat a "degenerative knee issue," Taylor won another world title in Beijing with the second-farthest jump in history; he landed eight centimeters shy of Jonathan Edwards' 1995 world record. On a return trip to London in 2017, Taylor became the first triple jumper in history to repeat as world champion and amass three world titles.
The Gator Great has also been a dominant force in the Diamond League, track and field's professional circuit, winning the season-long triple jump crown six consecutive years from 2012-17.
All the while he proudly displayed his love for the Gators. Starting with the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, Taylor competed in custom gator scale-pattered spikes at nearly every marquee meet.
"I love the Gator Nation. Orange and Blue is in my veins. That's what keeps me humble and drives me."@Taylored2jump on his 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🐊 spikes pic.twitter.com/DNuB0G7rfC
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) August 11, 2017
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) August 11, 2017
But how has Taylor never competed in his signature event at what was once his home venue?
In short, his college regimen never aligned with Florida's annual home meets. Those were opportunities for him to race his teammates – and future Olympians – in the 400 meters, as well as throw down one of the nation's fastest 4x400 relay times alongside them.
It should have happened in 2009, when Florida hosted the SEC Outdoor Championships. Coming off an indoor national title, Taylor was ready to show out. An injury he sustained in the long jump, however, left him unable to triple jump.
Percy Beard Track's layout in those days did no favors for jumpers either. Jumpers love to start rhythmic claps and ask the crowd for support at the height of competition, something nearly impossible with Florida's original setup. Due to track and field and soccer sharing the infield, the primary jumps runway was right against the towering grandstand wall, keeping it hidden from practically everyone in attendance.
Last summer, the University Athletic Association committed $2 million for renovations. One of the biggest changes: constructing new jumps runways on the infield.
The primary jumps runaway used to be against the wall in the left side of this photo.
"That was really difficult to get the crowd to interact with you and get them involved," Taylor said. "With the new layout, I could not miss this opportunity. You're in the center of the field. All eyes are on you. You're possibly even jumping to the finish line. I think some special things can happen."
Ironically, Taylor will once again be a student-athlete as he showcases his world-class talent in front of Gator Nation.
When Taylor left school early and turned professional in the summer of 2011, he promised head coach Mike Holloway he would one day return and get his degree. The promise stuck with him, no matter how far from Gainesville his career led him.
"I'd be at Diamond League meets, World Championships, Olympic Games and think, I've still got to finish school," Taylor said. "It was this big cloud over my shoulder."
Every four-year cycle for track and field features two World Championships and the Olympics, meaning there is one year without a global championship. This cycle's off year, so to speak, was last season. Taylor knew it was his chance to fulfill the promise he made a decade prior.
He started online classes in January 2018, and he took on a five-class workload this semester.
Accessibility to online classes was one thing, but competing professionally across the globe while trying to complete group projects, or even knowing when to turn in assignments is something entirely. Taylor's training group was based in Netherlands, and last year he competed in Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Hungary, Monaco, Poland, Qatar, and Switzerland.
"To travel the world, to have to really think about the time zones," Taylor said, "if I had group projects, doing them six hours ahead is quite difficult because some people have to work. It was really a lot of planning and a lot of different things, but that's part of life. It's made me stronger and pushed me to another level mentally."
As of Wednesday, two exams were finished. His last three are in the coming days. Once those are out of the way, an internship is the only thing standing between Taylor and a sports management degree, which he is on track to earn this summer.
"I wanted to go a little deeper and say, I wasn't just a participant. I did my time and got my degree," Taylor said. "For me, that's going to be something I carry with a lot of pride. Orange and blue is in my blood. To be a graduate is really going to seal the deal."
Speaking of sealing the deal, Taylor has been engaged for a little over a week. He popped the question to Beate Schrott, an Austrian Olympic hurdler, near their new residence in Jacksonville.
"She's really been a backbone for me," he said of his fiancé, who he met at the 2011 World Championships. "I'm just even more excited about what the future holds."
Looking ahead, Taylor has an automatic berth for September's World Championships in Doha, as he is the reigning gold medalist. He is out to reclaim the Diamond League crown after finishing behind Pedro Pablo Pichardo last year. And he should enter the 2020 Olympics favored to win a third consecutive gold medal, a feat only accomplished by Viktor Saneyev in 1968, 1972, and 1976.
The fact he came closer than anyone else in history and it still was not enough, that feeling eats at him every day. Every time Taylor takes the runway, his aim is directed at Edwards' mark of 18.29 meters. It is unlikely to come Saturday in Gainesville, but breaking the stadium record at a place he once called home and still holds dear to his heart will be a unique reward.
"I'm really excited to put some big marks here," Taylor said.
