2-Time U.S. Olympic Champion Will Miss Tokyo Games
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 01: A general view is seen of the Olympic rings in the Olympic Park on August 1, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Two-time Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor will miss out on the rescheduled 2020 Olympics in Tokyo after suffering a torn Achilles earlier this week.
Taylor, 30, reportedly injured his Achilles at a meet on Wednesday in the Czech Republic. He pulled up prior to his takeoff in the triple jump event and was unable to compete.
He underwent surgery on Thursday, which will keep him out of this summer's Olympics.
"I strive to lead, inspire, motivate, encourage, challenge, and entertain. You all have shown me that my career has been more than merely jumping in a sandbox and for that I dry my eyes and push forward. My Olympic dream has been lost but my purpose remains. Thank YOU for that," Taylor
I strive to lead, inspire, motivate, encourage, challenge, and entertain. You all have shown me that my career has been more than merely jumping in a sandbox and for that I dry my eyes and push forward. My Olympic dream has been lost but my purpose remains. Thank YOU for that. pic.twitter.com/DkuDI193qw
— Christian Taylor (@Taylored2jump) May 24, 2021
">wrote in a message on Twitter.
Taylor has been one of the most dominant American Olympians for the last decade in his specialty, the triple jump. He won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London and followed it up four years later with a gold in Rio. He also won the event at the World Championships in 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Taylor also has the second-longest leap all time in the triple jump, with a distance of 59 feet and nine inches. The world record of just over 60 feet is held by Jonathan Edwards of Great Britain, according to ESPN.
Despite the major injury setback, Taylor said that he'll be back soon enough.
“I am disappointed to not be able to go for my third consecutive Olympic gold in Tokyo, but I will be back,” Taylor said in a statement Friday, according to NBC Sports’ Lewis Johnson. “I have 426 days until triple jump at Eugene 2022 [World Championships] and I am already setting my target on that podium.”
