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Megan Taylor

{{short description|British figure skater}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}

{{Infobox figure skater

|name= Megan Taylor

|image=Megan Taylor 1932.jpg

|image_size = 240px

|caption=Taylor in 1932

|full_name= Megan Devenish Taylor

|altname=

|country= {{GBR}}

|formercountry=

|birth_date= {{birth date|df=yes|1920|10|25}}

|birth_place=Rochdale, England

|hometown=

|residence=

|death_date= {{death date and age|df=yes|1993|7|23|1920|10|25}}

|death_place=Jamaica

|height= {{convert|157|cm|ftin}}{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ta/megan-taylor-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418041934/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ta/megan-taylor-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-18 |title=Megan Taylor}}

|partner=

|formerpartner=

|coach=

|formercoach=

|choreographer=

|formerchoreographer=

|skating club=

|retired= 1945

|medaltemplates =

{{MedalSport | Ladies' Figure skating}}

{{MedalCountry | {{GBR2}}}}

{{MedalCompetition|World Championships}}

{{MedalGold|1939 Prague|Ladies' singles}}

{{MedalGold|1938 Stockholm|Ladies' singles}}

{{MedalSilver|1937 London|Ladies' singles}}

{{MedalSilver|1936 Paris|Ladies' singles}}

{{MedalSilver|1934 Oslo|Ladies' singles}}

{{MedalCompetition|European Championships}}

{{MedalSilver|1939 London|Ladies' singles}}

{{MedalSilver|1938 St. Moritz|Ladies' singles}}

{{MedalSilver|1937 Prague|Ladies' singles}}

{{MedalBronze|1936 Berlin|Ladies' singles}}

}}

Megan Olwen Devenish Taylor (later Mandeville, later Ellis, 25 October 1920 – 23 July 1993) was a British figure skater competitive in the 1930s. She won the World Championships in 1938 and 1939. Her father was Phil Taylor, a speed skater.[http://www.pikle.demon.co.uk/londoncross/londoncross23.html A Straight Line Walk Across London] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060706071307/http://www.pikle.demon.co.uk/londoncross/londoncross23.html |date=6 July 2006 }}, accessed 21 July 2006.

Career

Megan and fellow Brit Cecilia Colledge participated in the 1932 Winter Olympics. They were virtually the same age—Colledge was 11 years and 68 days old, and Taylor was 11 years and 102 days. They are the youngest ever female competitors in any Olympic sport and the youngest ever competitors at the Winter Olympics.{{cite web|url=http://www.iceskate-magazine.com/page49.html |title="Between the wars" |accessdate=17 August 2013 |url-status=unfit |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20020122145258/http://www.iceskate-magazine.com/page49.html |archivedate=22 January 2002 }}, accessed 21 July 2006.[http://www.iceskating.org.uk/dyncat.cfm?catid=9616 SKATING A BRIEF HISTORY OF ICE & The NATIONAL ICE SKATING ASSOCIATION of Great Britain, by Denis L. Bird], accessed 21 July 2006. Taylor finished seventh, with Colledge following in eighth in the singles competition. Sonja Henie, the dominant figure in women’s figure skating at the time, won her second Olympic gold medal here.

Taylor finished second behind Henie at the World Championships in 1934 and 1936. After Henie retired in 1936, Taylor and Colledge competed for prominence. Colledge won the Worlds in 1937, while Taylor won in 1938 and 1939. Taylor placed second behind Colledge three times at the European Championships (1937, 1938, and 1939).

After her retirement from amateur competition, Taylor toured with the Ice Capades.

Competitive highlights

class="wikitable"
Event

! 1932

! 1933

! 1934

! 1935

! 1936

! 1937

! 1938

! 1939

Winter Olympic Gamesalign="center"| 7th
World Championshipsalign="center"| 7thalign="center"| 4thalign="center" bgcolor="silver" | 2ndalign="center" bgcolor="silver" | 2ndalign="center" bgcolor="silver" | 2ndalign="center" bgcolor="gold" | 1stalign="center" bgcolor="gold" | 1st
European Championshipsalign="center"| 4thalign="center" bgcolor="CC9966" | 3rdalign="center" bgcolor="silver" | 2ndalign="center" bgcolor="silver" | 2ndalign="center" bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
British Championshipsalign="center" bgcolor="gold" | 1stalign="center" bgcolor="gold" | 1stalign="center" bgcolor="gold" | 1stalign="center"| *align="center"| *align="center" bgcolor="silver" | 2ndalign="center" bgcolor="silver" | 2ndalign="center" bgcolor="silver" | 2nd

*Did not participate

Further reading

  • E.R. Hall & T.D. Richardson – Champions all: camera studies by E.R. Hall (Frederick Muller, 1938)
  • Richardson T.D – Modern Figure Skating (Methuen, 1938)

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Megan Taylor}}

  • {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209065514/http://www.eskatefans.com/skatabase/worldladies1930.html |date=9 February 2007 |title=World Figure Skating Championships results, 1930–1939 }}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20120204111817/http://www.eskatefans.com/skatabase/euroladies1930.html European Figure Skating Championships results, 1930–1939]

{{NavigationWorldChampionsFigureSkatingLadies}}

{{NavigationBritishChampionsFigureSkatingLadies}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Megan}}

Category:1920 births

Category:1993 deaths

Category:British female single skaters

Category:English female single skaters

Category:Olympic figure skaters for Great Britain

Category:Figure skaters at the 1932 Winter Olympics

Category:Sportspeople from Rochdale

Category:World Figure Skating Championships medalists

Category:European Figure Skating Championships medalists

Category:People educated at Rathdown School

Category:20th-century English sportswomen