Megan Taylor
Taylor in 1932
Full nameMegan Devenish Taylor
Born(1920-10-25)25 October 1920
Rochdale, England
Died23 July 1993(1993-07-23) (aged 72)
Jamaica
Height157 cm (5 ft 2 in)[1]
Figure skating career
Country United Kingdom
Retired1945
Medal record
Ladies' Figure skating
Representing  Great Britain
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1939 PragueLadies' singles
Gold medal – first place1938 StockholmLadies' singles
Silver medal – second place1937 LondonLadies' singles
Silver medal – second place1936 ParisLadies' singles
Silver medal – second place1934 OsloLadies' singles
European Championships
Silver medal – second place1939 LondonLadies' singles
Silver medal – second place1938 St. MoritzLadies' singles
Silver medal – second place1937 PragueLadies' singles
Bronze medal – third place1936 BerlinLadies' 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.[2]

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.[3][4] 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

Event 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
Winter Olympic Games7th
World Championships7th4th2nd2nd2nd1st1st
European Championships4th3rd2nd2nd2nd
British Championships1st1st1st**2nd2nd2nd

*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

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Megan Taylor". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  2. ↑ A Straight Line Walk Across London Archived 6 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 21 July 2006.
  3. ↑ ""Between the wars"". Archived from the original on 22 January 2002. Retrieved 17 August 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link), accessed 21 July 2006.
  4. ↑ SKATING A BRIEF HISTORY OF ICE & The NATIONAL ICE SKATING ASSOCIATION of Great Britain, by Denis L. Bird, accessed 21 July 2006.
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