MAJOR TAYLOR: WORLD CYCLING CHAMPION
by Charles R. Smith Jr., 2023
Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (November 26, 1878 – June 21, 1932) was an American professional cyclist. He has been called "the first Black American global sports superstar."
Born and raised in Indianapolis, he worked in bicycle shops and began racing multiple distances in the track and road disciplines of cycling. As a teenager, he moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, with his employer/coach/mentor and continued his successful amateur career, which included breaking track records.
When he was 18 in 1896, Taylor turned professional. He lived in various cities on the East Coast and participated in multiple track events including six-day races. He moved his focus to the sprint event in 1897, competing in a national racing circuit, winning many races and gaining popularity with the public. In 1898 and 1899, he set numerous world records in race distances ranging from the quarter-mile (0.4 km) to the two-mile (3.2 km).
Taylor won the 1-mile sprint event at the 1899 world track championships to become the first African American to achieve the level of cycling world champion and the second Black athlete to win a world championship in any sport.
Taylor was also a national sprint champion in 1899 and 1900. He raced in the U.S., Europe and Australia from 1901 to 1904, beating the world's best riders. He made a comeback in 1907–1909, before retiring at age 32 to his home in Worcester in 1910.
He spent the final two years of his life in Chicago, Illinois, where he died of a heart attack in 1932.
Taylor became a pioneer role mode for athletes facing racial discrimination, having faced challenges himself throughout his career. He has been memorialized with historic markers in Worcester MA, Indianapolis, and at his gravesite in Chicago as well as in film, music and fashion. Several cycling clubs, trails, and events in the U.S. have been named in his honor, as well as the Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis and Major Taylor Boulevard in Worcester.