Lunch with an Olympian: Christian Taylor speaks to BB&N

Christian Taylor did not know what track and field event he would specialize in until he first qualified for the triple jump. His coach placed him in the event because he was the only athlete on the team that could reach the sandpit.

“Since I was the only one that could make it to the sandpit, the coach saw me as points,” Taylor, an Olympic athlete, told students in a talk The Benchwarmer organized during a lunch block in December.

“He was a football coach. It wasn’t like he was trying to make me better. He just told me that ‘you can make the sand, I want to get a ring by the end of the year, and we go from there.’ ”

From that moment, Taylor has become an accomplished jumper, accumulating two Olympic Gold medals and the American record in the triple jump. While Taylor always knew he wanted to be an athlete, track and field was not his passion as a child. However, his talent in track and field showed that he could have a promising future in the sport, Taylor said.

“Originally, my dream was to be a professional soccer player. But I just didn’t have the talent. I could run, I could jump, but didn’t necessarily have the skills. When I joined the track team, it was clear that I had the agility to take me to the next level.”

When Taylor reached high school, his father encouraged him to join the track team. There, he set state records in the long jump and triple jump and competed in the World Junior Championships. He eventually received a scholarship to continue to jump at the University of Florida.

In college, he quickly gained success, cementing himself as one of the best triple jump and long jumpers and participating in one of the country’s best 4x400 meter relay teams as a freshman. Junior year, Taylor’s first step towards becoming a professional athlete came when he won his first world championship in the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, Korea.

“It was a huge blessing, but also very unexpected,” Taylor said. “It sounds weird, but until you walk through [the experience], it’s a shock. Being in backwoods Gainesville, Florida––the middle of nowhere––to then being spotlighted in Korea was very awakening.”

After becoming a world champion, Taylor decided to seek a professional and Olympic career and leave the University of Florida before his senior year. However, it was difficult to decide between staying in school or trying to make a living off athletics, Taylor said. By choosing the latter, he won a gold medal in the triple jump at the London Olympics a year later.

Though he had become a star himself at his first Olympics, Taylor found it fascinating seeing other high-profile athletes in his vicinity, he said.

“I remember going to the cafeteria and seeing Kobe [Bryant] and the NBA guys walking to McDonald’s, and you think those are the GOATS.”

“At first, I thought: yes, we are very different. But at the same time, we were not. We were eating the same food, and we were all striving for the same goal.”

During the talk, Taylor also discussed his training routine, which he adjusts based on the season of the year. In the fall, during the offseason, Taylor trains six days a week focusing half of his training on heavy lifting and the other half on track and field training––sprints, jumps, and runs. As the start of the offseason approaches, Taylor incorporates more explosive and plyometric exercises. During the season, he replaces heavy weights when lifting with light ones to focus primarily on becoming wiry and explosive.

Though he follows a strict training routine, Taylor admitted that there were some areas of his preparation that were not as rigorous.

“I would say that my diet is my weak point. I know I should be leading you in the right direction, but I am going to be transparent. I love desserts. For Thanksgiving, my grandma made me chocolate cake, cheesecake because she knows that’s my thing. But outside of deserts, I do try to be mindful of what I put in my body.”

In addition to gold medals, world championships, and records—since the start of his career—Taylor has looked for ways to contribute to the sport outside of his performances, he said. Taylor studied Sports Management in college, and in 2019, he launched The Athletics Association—an international union of track-and-field athletes that aims to give them a more significant voice in how the sport is run.

“I want to give more than just my performance to the sport,” Taylor said. “I want to pass the baton and give the next generation greater opportunities than what I had.”