Joe Taylor

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameJoseph William "Joe"•Taylor
Used nameJoe•Taylor
Born18 November 1907 in Bradford, England (GBR)
DiedDecember 1992 in Bradford, England (GBR)
AffiliationsBradford Premier Wrestling and Weightlifting Club, Bradford (GBR)
NOC Great Britain

Biography

Joe Taylor started wrestling at the age of 19 when he joined the Bradford Premier Wresting and Weightlifting Club. He went on to win more than 30 titles including Yorkshire, Northern Counties, and British titles. He made his international début for England against France in 1931, and that same year won the first of his four British featherweight titles.

Taylor won six consecutive Northern Counties featherweight titles between 1929-34 and in 1932 and 1933 successfully defended his British crown, but lost the final to fellow Yorkshireman Norman Morrell in 1934. A septic toe kept Taylor out of the 1935 Nationals but he returned in 1936 in the hope of regaining his title. The Championships also doubled up as an Olympic trial but the event turned into a farce. With around 70 competitors there was only one mat in use, and with the competition nowhere near a close at 11 pm, Taylor and some other Northern wrestlers had to leave the competition in order to catch the midnight train home and forfeit the chance of a title and possible place at the Berlin Olympics. Shortly after that, Taylor quit the sport but was tempted out of retirement to fight for England against Japan in London later in the year. He then followed that with national title number four in 1937.

Taylor competed at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics and survived three rounds before just missing out on a medal position when eliminated in round four. He missed selection for the 1934 British Empire Games when he was reserve to Lancashire’s Joe Nelson in the featherweight division. Taylor later founded his own club, the Olympic Sports Club in Bradford, where he acted as secretary and instructor. In 1948 he took part in trials for the London Olympics at the age of 40, but failed to make the squad.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1932 Summer Olympics Wrestling GBR Joe Taylor
Featherweight, Freestyle, Men (Olympic) AC

Olympic family relations