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"It is my thought that clean living and a strict observance of the golden rule of true sportsmanship are foundation stones without which a championship structure cannot be built."—Marshall Taylor, The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World 1899.
Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (26 November 1878 – 21 June 1932) was an American cyclist who won the world one-mile track cycling championship in 1899 after setting numerous world records and overcoming racial discrimination.
Marshall Taylor was the first African-American athlete to achieve the level of world champion and only the second African-American man to win a world championship—after Canadian boxer George Dixon.
In late 1896, Taylor entered his first professional race in Madison Square Garden, where he lapped the entire field during the half-mile race.
Although he is listed in the Middletown town directory in 1896, it is not known how long he still resided there after he became a professional racer. He eventually settled in Worcester, Massachusetts (where the newspapers called him "The Worcester Whirlwind"), marrying there and having a daughter, although his career required him to spend a large amount of time traveling, in America, Australia, and Europe.
Reference: Wikipedia
 Major Taylor had four great weapons at his command in his numerous track competitions.
First, the very fact that he was tricked and attacked again and again made him strong and absolutely determined to win. The others were racing for the money; Taylor was racing to prove that he was the equal of any man.
Second, Taylor used his brains and was considered to be a great tactician in a race. Time after time, he outsmarted his enemies, pretending he was tired when he was not, pretending to attack when he wanted them to attack first, having his subordinate mark the position where he would begin his sprint when he intended no such thing, attacking whenever his opponent would begin to climb the bank to prepare an attack against him, and deliberately allowing his opponents to get him "in the pocket," so they would relax, and so he could strike without warning.
Third, Taylor was a trick rider and could sometimes perform "impossible" feats to get into a better position or out of a jam. For instance, when racing against Edmond Jacquelin in France, the two men circled the track as slowly as possible to try to get the advantageous rearmost position. Finally, they were both standing still, and then Taylor began to pedal his bike backwards! Edmond laughed, accepted the front position, and was beaten in the sprint.
Fourth Taylor's great advantage was decisive: No one could beat him in a sprint. Time and again, Taylor would be the last man in the home stretch, and the others would be pushing for all they were worth, when suddenly Taylor would rocket by them, not only passing the whole field, but passing the lead rider by several lengths as well. Because of Taylor's terrific ability to shoot pass the other racers at the very last second, he was a great crowd pleaser and a great ticket attraction. It was for this reason that he was allowed to compete, in spite of the great hostility against him.
Reference: majortaylorassociation.org |
