Taylor Ellis-Watson

Taylor Ellis-Watson
Personal information
National team United States
Born (1993-05-06) May 6, 1993
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1]
Weight 142 lb (64 kg)[1]
Sport
Sport Track and Field
Medal record
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de Janeiro 4 × 400 m relay

Taylor Ellis-Watson is an American track and field athlete. She was selected for the United States Olympic team in the women's 4 x 400 meter relay for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Early life

Taylor Ellis-Watson was born on May 6, 1993 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] Ellis-Watson began running at age 12, and she excelled in track as a high school student.[2][3] In 2011 she graduated from Springside School, which has since been renamed Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.[3]

Track and field

Ellis-Watson first attended college at the University of Pittsburgh where she was named All-Big East Conference in track.[3] After two years, she transferred from Pittsburgh to the University of Arkansas seeking the increased competition that comes at an SEC track school.[2][3] In November 2013 and December 2014, Ellis-Watson had surgery on her left foot to repair a stress fracture. Ellis-Watson was an 11-time All-American at Arkansas and was part of the school's 2015 indoor track and 2016 outdoor track national championship teams.[2] Although she graduated from college 2015, Ellis-Watson began working towards her post-graduate degree in counseling and continuing to compete in the NCAA through 2016.[3]

At the 2016 Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, Ellis-Watson finished fourth in the 400 meters with a personal best time of 50.25.[2][3] She missed qualifying for the individual 400 meter .08 of a second. The result was still good enough to earn Ellis-Watson a spot on the U.S. 4 x 400 women's relay team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[2] At the Olympics, Ellis-Watson ran the second leg of the preliminary round of the 4 x 400 relay with a split of 50.81 seconds.[4] Although Ellis-Watson did not race in the finals, she won gold for being part of the winning relay team.[4]

Personal life

As of 2016, Ellis-Watson is engaged to be married to fellow track athlete Wesley Washington.[3][5] The pair met while Ellis-Watson was a student at the University of Pittsburgh.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Taylor Ellis-Watson". Team USA. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Holt, Bob (2016-08-06). "Ellis-Watson wants to show she belongs in final". Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Utescher, Tom (2016-07-05). "Former Springside sprinter bound for Rio". Chestnut Hill Local Philadelphia PA. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  4. 1 2 Joy, Ekema-Agbaw, (2016-08-20). "One Team One Dream". Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  5. ↑ "Team USA Runner Ready for Competition". 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
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