Christian Taylor (athlete)

Christian Taylor (born June 18, 1990) is an American track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump and has a personal record of 18.21 m (59 ft 8+3⁄4 in), which ranks 2nd on the all-time list.

He was the triple jump champion and long jump bronze medalist at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics. He established himself as a top level triple jumper at the University of Florida, where he won back-to-back NCAA Indoor titles and then consecutive NCAA Outdoor Championship titles in 2010 and 2011. Taylor won his first USA Outdoor national title in 2011.

He followed his national title with a win in the triple jump at the 2011 World Championships, upsetting the field with the tenth best jump in history. He was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team and won the gold medal in the triple jump at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He placed fourth at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, but regained his title at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics. He won the gold medal in the triple jump at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro with a jump of 17.86m. In 2017, Taylor once again stormed to victory in the triple jump at 2017 World Championships in Athletics with a jump of 17.68m. Coming to the 2019 World Championships in Doha as the defending champion, Taylor took his fourth world title in the triple jump by producing a 17.92m jump.

He also competes in the long jump – with a best of 8.19 m (26 ft 10+1⁄4 in) – and in the sprints to a high level: his best for the 400-meter dash is 45.07 seconds and he has run 20.70 seconds for the 200-meter dash.

In 2019, Taylor announced the formation of "The Athletics Association," an organization of professional track and field athletes around the world, independent of IAAF, to advocate for athlete rights.