Megan Taylor

Megan Olwen Devenish Taylor (later Mandeville, later Ellis, 25 October 1920 – 23 July 1993) was a British figure skater competitive in the 1930s. She won the World Championships in 1938 and 1939. Her father was Phil Taylor, a speed skater.^[2]

Megan Taylor

Taylor in 1932
Personal information
Full name	Megan Devenish Taylor
Born	(1920-10-25)25 October 1920 Rochdale, England
Died	23 July 1993(1993-07-23) (aged 72) Jamaica
Height	157 cm (5 ft 2 in)[1]
Figure skating career
Country	United Kingdom
Retired	1945
Medal record Ladies' Figure skating Representing  Great Britain World Championships 1939 Prague Ladies' singles 1938 Stockholm Ladies' singles 1937 London Ladies' singles 1936 Paris Ladies' singles 1934 Oslo Ladies' singles European Championships 1939 London Ladies' singles 1938 St. Moritz Ladies' singles 1937 Prague Ladies' singles 1936 Berlin Ladies' singles

Career

Megan and fellow Brit Cecilia Colledge participated in the 1932 Winter Olympics. They were virtually the same age—Colledge was 11 years and 68 days old, and Taylor was 11 years and 102 days. They are the youngest ever female competitors in any Olympic sport and the youngest ever competitors at the Winter Olympics.^[3][4] Taylor finished seventh, with Colledge following in eighth in the singles competition. Sonja Henie, the dominant figure in women’s figure skating at the time, won her second Olympic gold medal here.

Taylor finished second behind Henie at the World Championships in 1934 and 1936. After Henie retired in 1936, Taylor and Colledge competed for prominence. Colledge won the Worlds in 1937, while Taylor won in 1938 and 1939. Taylor placed second behind Colledge three times at the European Championships (1937, 1938, and 1939).

After her retirement from amateur competition, Taylor toured with the Ice Capades.

Competitive highlights

Event	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
Winter Olympic Games	7th
World Championships	7th	4th	2nd		2nd	2nd	1st	1st
European Championships			4th		3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd
British Championships	1st	1st	1st	*	*	2nd	2nd	2nd

*Did not participate

Further reading

• E.R. Hall & T.D. Richardson – Champions all: camera studies by E.R. Hall (Frederick Muller, 1938)
• Richardson T.D – Modern Figure Skating (Methuen, 1938)