Katy Taylor

Taylor began skating one week before her sixth birthday.[1] When she was eight, she began taking individual lessons with coach Jana Conter.[5] She landed her first triple, a triple loop, when she was 10.[3]

In 2001, Taylor competed on the juvenile level at the U.S. Junior National Championships, which are the national championships for skaters at the juvenile and intermediate level. She finished third. The next year Taylor competed on the intermediate level and finished tenth.[4] In the 2002–2003 season, she moved up to the novice level and qualified for the 2003 U.S. Figure Skating Championships by finishing second at Southwestern Regionals and second at the Midwestern Sectional Figure Skating Championships.[4] At the National Championships, Taylor finished second behind gold medalist Kimmie Meissner.[7] Taylor was then named to the team for the Triglav Trophy, where she won the silver medal on the novice level.[8]

Taylor (far right) won the bronze medal at the Junior Grand Prix event in Chemnitz, Germany, in 2004

During the 2003–2004 season, Taylor moved up to the junior level. She won a silver medal at her first Junior Grand Prix event in Bratislava, Slovakia.[9] In her next Junior Grand Prix event in Japan, she finished fourth.[4] On the national level, Taylor qualified for the 2004 United States Figure Skating Championships by winning the Midwestern Sectional Championships on the junior level.[4] At the National Championships, she finished second to Meissner once again, although she did win the short program.[6] (Chron-Barron2004; Interview) After the event, Taylor was named to the team for the 2004 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. She won the bronze medal, finishing behind Japan’s Miki Ando and Kimmie Meissner.[8]

During the 2004–2005 season, Taylor competed on the Junior Grand Prix once again. She finished third at the events in Budapest, Hungary, and Chemnitz, Germany, but did not qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final. (Houston Chron 2004) She moved up to the senior level nationally and qualified for the 2005 United States Figure Skating Championships after finishing first at Midwestern Sectionals.[4] At the National Championships, she finished sixth in the short program after hitting all her elements.[10] She ended the competition in ninth place after popping a triple Lutz and falling on a triple Salchow.[11]

In the fall of 2005, Taylor competed on the Junior Grand Prix again. She finished fourth at the event in Slovakia and second at the event in Bulgaria.[4] Taylor originally was named as an alternate to the Junior Grand Prix Final but later received a last-minute call to the competition in Ostrava, Czech Republic. (Chron 2006) She received the call after competing and winning the Sectionals competition in Denver, Colorado, all while suffering from a cold and sinus infection. Taylor, her coach, and her mother spent 26 hours traveling from Houston to Ostrava and arrived at 7:30 p.m. the day before the event. She placed fourth at the competition, only 3.5 points away from the bronze medal.[12]

In January 2006, Taylor competed at the 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She placed seventh in the short program after singling the second part of her triple Lutz-double toe combination.[13] In the long program, she skated to the Forrest Gump Suite and had the third highest technical score (54.21).[14] She ended the competition in fourth place after finishing third in the long program. Her final score was 152.54.[15] After the competition, she was named to the Junior World team.[14] U.S. Figure Skating also named her as the second alternate to the 2006 Olympic team.[16] Taylor later dropped out of Junior Worlds after she had skate problems.[17]

After the National Championships, Taylor competed at the Four Continents Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado, her first senior international event. She won the gold medal after finishing second in both the short program and the long program.[18] During the short program competition, Taylor had to deal with a power outage in the arena that caused a 15-minute delay in the event. She still earned a personal best in the short program.[19] In the long program, Taylor landed five triple jumps, including a triple Lutz at the end of the program. Her only major error was popping a triple loop.[18] Katy still remains the youngest Four Continents Champion winning the competition when she was 16 years and 98 days old.

As the 2006–2007 season began, Taylor stated that her goals for the year were to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, make the world team, place well at the National Championships and receive a standing ovation.[2][4][17] She began the season by winning the bronze medal at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, in September.[17] She then competed on the Senior Grand Prix for the first time at Skate America in Hartford, Connecticut and Skate Canada International in Victoria, British Columbia.[20] Before Skate America, Taylor broke in a new pair of skates, which caused her a lot of pain.[17] In the short program, she place eleventh with 34.66 points after falling on her triple flip.[21] She remained in eleventh, and last, place after the long program.[22] A week later, Taylor finished last in the field of 12 at Skate Canada.[23] Taylor believed that her poor results on the Grand Prix series were the result of training, equipment, and personal problems.[23]

After the Grand Prix series, Taylor changed her short program from "Happy Feet" to "Legends of the Fall" so that she would be more comfortable on the ice and more able to tell a story.[23] In December she performed her new short program at the 2006 Marshalls U.S. Figure Skating Challenge in Boston, Massachusetts, an American Idol-style competition in which fans voted for their favorite skating performance. After falling on her triple flip, Taylor did not make it to the final round of the competition.[24]

Taylor's next competition was the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Washington. Before the competition began, she said that she had resolved the personal and boot problems that had bothered her during the Grand Prix events.[23]

Taylor did not compete in the 2007–2008 season, citing an injury, and has not returned to competition since.