Robert Taylor Dies at 59; Won 2 Medals in ’72 Olympics
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By FRANK LITSKY
Published: November 16, 2007
Robert Taylor, the American sprinter who won gold and silver medals in the 1972 Olympics in Munich after two of his teammates were memorably disqualified because of a scheduling mix-up, died Tuesday in Houston. He was 59 and lived in Missouri City, Tex.
The cause was a heart attack, his wife, Cheryl, said. She said he had a history of heart problems.
On Aug. 31, 1972, the opening day of track and field competition in the Olympics, the three Americans in the 100-meter dash — Taylor, Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson, all medal contenders — had advanced in the morning through the first of the four rounds.
The next heat, the quarterfinals, was to start at 4:15 p.m., according to a revised schedule.
But the three runners and the American sprint coach, Stan Wright, were still following an outdated schedule, drawn up 18 months earlier, listing a start time of 7 p.m.
Not knowing that the event had been moved up, they were in an ABC-TV truck watching what they thought were reruns of the first round when they realized that the picture was live and that their quarterfinal races were about to be run. Robinson was scheduled for the first quarterfinal, Hart for the second and Taylor for the third.
They were driven quickly to Olympic Stadium, but Hart and Robinson arrived too late and were disqualified.
Taylor made it just in time, stripped off his sweatsuit, put on his running shoes, did two knee bends, ran and qualified for the semifinals. In the final, Taylor won the silver medal in 10.24 seconds, finishing second to Valery Borzov of the Soviet Union (10.14).
Taylor later ran the second leg and Hart the anchor as the United States won the 400-meter relay and set a world record of 38.19 seconds. Robinson did not compete any further in the Games, whose events were overshadowed by the terrorist attack on the Olympic Village that left 11 Israeli athletes, 5 Arab terrorists and a German police officer dead.
Wright, who died in 1998, initially took the blame for the scheduling confusion:eek: . But in a report to the United States Olympic Committee, George Wilson, the manager of the Olympic track team, later took responsibility, saying the schedule had been changed only 48 hours before the event and that, distracted, he had forgotten to tell Wright.:mad:
Robert Taylor Jr. was born Sept. 14, 1948, in Tyler, Tex., and graduated from Texas Southern University with a degree in education. For the last 22 years, he was a special-education teacher.
In addition to his wife, Cheryl, he is survived by his son Bobby, who played 10 years in the National Football League as a defensive back for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks; another son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Cecilee, both of Houston; a grandson; a sister, Gwen Taylor; and three brothers, Peter, Elvin and Arthur, all of Tyler.
