Angelo Taylor makes comeback for gold

Metro Atlanta

Angelo Taylor makes comeback for gold

DeKalb County athlete Angelo Taylor won the 400-meter hurdles at the Beijing Summer Games and resurrected a career hobbled by injuries, a lack of focus and embarrassing legal problems.

Angelo Taylor hangs out at the Olympic Village in Beijing, where he won gold the 400-meter hurdles and resurrected a career hobbled by injuries, a lack of focus and legal problems.

Taylor appears on the big screen as he receives his gold medal in Beijing.

United States runners Taylor (from left), gold medal; Kerron Clement, silver; and Bershawn Jackson, bronze, celebrate a sweep in the 400-meter hurdles on Aug. 18, 2008.

Taylor celebrates winning the gold in the men's 400-meter hurdles.

Taylor clears a hurdle during a semifinal at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

Alumni Taylor (left) and Terrence Trammell get a send-off from Southwest Dekalb High School before they compete in the Beijing Summer Games.

In January 2005, a police officer on patrol arrested Taylor after finding him and a 15-year-old nude in a GMC Yukon parked at Fork Creek Mountain Park in south DeKalb.

In 2004, Taylor sets up for a workout session at Panthersville Stadium in Decatur. He made the Olympic team that year but, suffering from hairline fractures in his shins, failed to reach the event finals.

Athletes Taylor and Sharon Couch were among those recognized by the mayor and the governor after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where Taylor won two gold medals.

Taylor prays after winning gold in the 400 meter hurdles in Sydney. After winning in Sydney, he received the Jesse Owens Award, given to USA Track and Field's top male athlete.

Taylor competes in the 400-meter hurdles in the 2000 Summer Games.

Taylor was a Georgia Tech athlete in 1998. "I was an Olympic champion and he was a freshman and very soon afterward he started beating me," remembers teammate Derrick Adkins, the 1996 Olympic gold medal winner in the 400-meter hurdles.

East Atlanta Track Club relay members Taylor (left), Antonio Partridge, Kareem Williams and Dwight Phillips pose together in this undated photo.

As a Southwest DeKalb student in 1996, Taylor competes in the triple jump.

1/14

Angelo Taylor hangs out at the Olympic Village in Beijing, where he won gold the 400-meter hurdles and resurrected a career hobbled by injuries, a lack of focus and legal problems.

Today's Gallery Headlines

Valentines for Veterans

Metro Atlanta students write valentines to veterans

GHSA Championship, Dance, Akins Ford Arena, Athens

PHOTOS: Georgia teams dance way to state championships

Spring Training Day 3 (Thursday)

PHOTOS: Day 3 of Spring Training for Braves

Her Story Art and Food

AJC photos of the month -- January 2026

More Galleries

World Cup draw party TKTKT

PHOTOS: Fans attend 2026 World Cup draw party in Atlanta

Randy Beck

'No body' homicide cases in Georgia

Stitch rendering 2025

PHOTOS: Renderings of Stitch project over Atlanta's Downtown Connector

People are silhouetted against a huge Pride flag before the start of the Atlanta Pride Parade on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (Ben Gray for the AJC)

Photos: Atlanta Pride Parade 2025