Taylor is pictured here in 1906. He was also known by the nickname 'The Black Cyclone.
On a cold December night thousands gathered at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The smell of oil-fired potatoes and chicken hanging in the night air made the crowd happy to chatter and beat their fists together as they tried to keep warm.
The athletes emerged from a small tent set up by the banked wooden oval track. They were not here to box or play basketball. This was a race for bicycles on 6/12/1896.
The field was made up of 28 male athletes, 27 of whom were white, on machines similar to the ones we recognize today.
Marshall "Major" Taylor, an African American sportsman who set the standard for African American sportsmanship, was Marshall Taylor. He was there to participate in the endurance race for six days, which is something they don't do now.
For nearly a week, it meant riding a bike without brakes or being able to coast. It was not surprising, given the rigours associated with American football and ice hockey, that the public loved it.
It was this race that launched Taylor’s career.
He was 18 when he crashed two times and demanded one hour sleep for every seven. Although he finished eighth in the race, he was a true star. He was the world's sprint champion three years later. It would be over 100 years before another black cyclist won a world title.
Taylor's story, which was both a triumph and a tragedy, is largely unknown.
Taylor was born in 1878 in Indianapolis and raised there. His parents were wealthy and gave Taylor his first bike and tutored him. Taylor returned home aged 12 to find an unusual job that would launch him into a new career.
The Hay and Willits bike shop owners paid him $6 per week to do tricks to draw customers. He was dressed in a military uniform and earned the nickname "Major".
Taylor eventually found a better shop for bicycles in downtown Indianapolis where he met cyclists like Louis 'Birdie' Munger, and Arthur Zimmerman, who were both double world champion sprinters. He was able to break into a predominantly white sport because of the friendships he made with the heroes of the track. Munger was the one who saw his potential and helped him win.
Taylor is pictured here in 1900. In 1899, he was a world-champion sprinter.
And win he did. He broke the amateur one-mile record at age 15. He was immediately disqualified and banned by the velodrome.
Taylor set several other amateur records during this period, often under threat from his white counterparts. He excelled in segregated races and records began to fall at national championships for black racers.
Munger's move to Worcester, Massachusetts, which was also a cycling hub of the era, made Munger's transition into racing among white athletes easier.
He made his mark and often to the delight, but sometimes to the dismay, of others. He set seven world records in short distances, which he held for 1898-1899. Even the soon-to be US president Theodore Roosevelt followed his every move.
However, for some, his talents proved too much. Taylor, less than one year after his debut on the New York racing scene, was wrestled to death by a rival who he had defeated in a sprint race held in Taunton, Massachusetts.
The News York Times reported that WE Becker pulled Taylor by the shoulder after the riders were done. The report said that Taylor was knocked to the ground by Becker, who then choked him to unconsciousness. Police were forced to intervene. He regained consciousness after 15 minutes, but the crowd was very hostile towards Becker.
Taylor must have felt a tremendous surge of popularity from the crowd that day, which must have motivated him to put an end to all those trying to stop him. Taylor would throw ice cubes under his tires. His business would be refused by restaurants and hotels.
Dr Marlon Moncrieffe is the author of Black Champions in Cycling. He says that Taylor's rise was a story about desire and determination, as well as his display of human grace.
"He would race down the track with verve and power, setting track speed records set by white champion cyclists. This was much to Taylor's delight, as the majority of the crowd was white and saw the grace in Taylor’s efforts. However, it was to the dismay of the white racers. Taylor was warned by his superiors that if he showed up at their meetings to embarrass them, his life could be in peril.
Taylor was racing in Europe and Australasia by the turn of 20th century. He won 22 races in 1899, including the famous one-mile sprint world championship to defeat Tom Butler. This made him the first American black world champion and second black world champion in any sports after Canadian boxer George Dixon.
Taylor's brilliance was hard to miss. Taylor, a Christian and a strong believer, refused to race Sundays when many championships were being held. In 1909, Taylor did not race for another title in the world until the end of his racing career.
For the same reason, he missed many European race meetings. But he shined when he took to the track. He won 40 of the 57 races in 1902 and gained a following in France.
Taylor retired in 1904 at 26 years old. He was then tempted to make a comeback in 1907, but he eventually stopped three years later. He had already made around $2m by the time he retired in 1910.
After his divorce and retirement, he struggled to make good business investments. His debts were paid off by the sale of his property. In 1932, he died in Chicago at 53 from a heart attack. His winnings were almost gone.
His burial in a pauper’s grave may have been due to the Great Depression. He was exhumed in 1948 and reburied with a fitting tribute: "World champion cyclist who rose the hard way without hatred, an honest, brave and God-fearing gentlemanly athlete. His race owes him a credit for his excellence. "Gone but not forgotten."
Taylor wrote this in his autobiography after he retired: I felt like I had my day. It was a wonderful day too.
"I played the game fair and tried my best, even though I wasn't always given a square deal or any other kind of compensation."
Taylor is a sporting legend for what he accomplished, and the context of how and when he did it.
Why is he considered, 16 years ago by the Los Angeles Times, "one the greatest sports stars that no one knows"?
Today, there's a cycling team named after Taylor that is dedicated to developing non-white cyclists. It has helped to nurture talent like Justin Williams, who won races at the national level in the United States, and his brother Corey.
John Legend, an American musician, has his production company filming "The Black Cyclone" external-link. This biopic is titled after another Taylor nickname. A mural was also unveiled in Taylor's hometown of Indianapolis.
Many feel that Taylor is not getting the credit he deserves, considering the cultural impact Taylor made beyond the velodrome by handing the baton on to black athletes throughout the 20th century.
Moncrieffe believes Taylor's legacy should be "even greater for cycling and learning in light of the massive Black Lives Matter antiracism protests that took place around the globe in 2020".
He says, "Perhaps his story serves as a reminder of how racial discrimination of past lives and breathes in present day cycling in dominant and exclusive white world."
"I wish this was not true. Taylor's legacy of being the fastest man on two-wheels would be a reminder that the greatest power in the sport is a combination of determination, friendship and desire.
