He's Back
by Paul Kingston
A feature in Reuters today profiled Angelo's remarkable return from injury and personal struggles over the past few years, and predicted -- like a growing number of experts -- success in Beijing.
Reporter Matthew Biggs detailed Angelo's rise to the height of track and field dominance at the 2000 Sydney Games, and his subsequent efforts to get back to his career summit.
Eight years ago, Taylor struck gold at the Sydney Games in the 400 metres hurdles, realising a dream as a 21-year-old that he had been working towards since he graduated from high school four years earlier.
He also won gold in the 4x400 metres in Sydney and two years later he was U.S. champion at 400 metres. But his career went into a downward spiral through injury and legal troubles and it looked like it might never recover.
Now he is on a long road to recovery. In June, he qualified at U.S. trials in Eugene, Oregon, for the August Beijing Olympics in the 400 metres hurdles, though he narrowly failed in a unique bid to contest both that event and the 400 metres.
"It's going to be tough physically and mentally," Taylor said in an interview.
One of the more notable parts of the story detailed Angelo's perspective on his career, which has changed dramatically over the past few years.
"I definitely want to win Olympic gold. Those are my goals. But if I don't I'm fine with that. I already got two gold medals. A lot of people run their whole career and don't achieve what I've achieved," he said.
Asked if a gold in Beijing would represent a comeback, he said: "I feel like I've already bounced back."
RELATED STORIES
U.S. athlete Taylor strives for comeback (Reuters, July 31, 2008)
http://www.reuters.com/article/olympicsNews/idUSN2226698020080731?pageNu...
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