Angella Taylor-Issajenko, CM (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Taylor; born September 28, 1958) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

coach and former sprinter. She won an Olympic silver medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay in

Los Angeles 1984 The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. At the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

she won seven medals, including the 100 metres title in Brisbane 1982 and the 200 metres in Edinburgh 1986.

Career

Angella was born in Jamaica on September 28, 1958. Her breakout performance came at the 1979

Pan Am Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, where she took a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

in the

100 m 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

and a

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

in the

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, and set

national records National Records was a record label that was started in New York City by Albert Green in 1945 and lasted until early 1951. Big Joe Turner was signed at the beginning and remained until 1947. Billy Eckstine was also a big seller for the label as w ...

of 11.20 and 22.80 respectively. Despite Canada's boycott of the

1980 Olympic Games The 1980 Olympics may refer to: * 1980 Winter Olympics, Lake Placid, New York, United States * 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officiall ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, she dominated post-Olympic competition in the summer of 1980, winning several meets, and finishing second in the 100 m to

Marlies Göhr Marlies Göhr (née Oelsner, born 21 March 1958 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a former East German track and field athlete, the winner of the 100 metres at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She ranked in the top 10 of the 100 m world r ...

, and third in the 200 m behind

Bärbel Wöckel Bärbel Wöckel ( Eckert; born 21 March 1955 in Leipzig) is a retired East German sprinter. She never ran a world record in the individual disciplines. However, she ran several world records as part of relay teams with Doris Maletzki ...

at the final stop in Zurich. She was the 200 m champion at the

Liberty Bell Classic The Liberty Bell Classic was a track and field athletics event organized by the Athletics Congress as part of the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott and held at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on July 16 and 17, 1980 ...

(which was an alternate to the boycotted Olympics). She lowered her national records to 11.12 for the 100 m and 22.55 for the 200 m by the end of the 1981 season. Angella Taylor was the 1982 Commonwealth 100 m champion in 11.00, a Commonwealth record and Games record, and anchored Canada to a

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

in the

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, holding off

Raelene Boyle Raelene Ann Boyle (born 24 June 1951) is an Australian retired athlete, who represented Australia at three Olympic Games as a sprinter, winning three silver medals, and was named one of 100 National Living Treasures by the National Trust of ...

. She also took a bronze in the 200 m and won a silver as part of the 4 × 100 m relay. Once again she improved upon the Canadian records for 100 m (11.00) and 200 m (22.25), She injured her sciatic nerve in the off-season training for the 1983 season, which troubled her for the rest of her career. In 1983, she won a bronze in 100m at the

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

held in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. She also picked up a silver in the 4 x 100-metre relay. After finishing a disappointing seventh in the 100 metres at the world championships, she opted out of the relay. Taylor won an Olympic silver medal as part of the Canadian 4 × 100 m relay team in 1984. In 1985, she was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. She also gave birth to her first child. In 1986, now known as Angella Issajenko, she was again Commonwealth Champion, this time in the 200 metres. She also won a bronze in the 100 m and a silver as a member of the 4 × 100 m relay team. Issajenko broke the world 50 m record indoors with a 6.06 clocking in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

in 1987. She won a silver medal in 1987 World Indoor Championships in a tight finish with

Nelli Cooman Cornelli "Nelli" Antoinette Hariëtte Cooman (born 6 June 1964) is a former Dutch athlete of Surinamese origin. At the 60 metres, she is two-time World indoor champion, six-time European indoor champion and former world record holder, running ...

, both women were timed in 7.08, but after a photo finish the judges gave the Championship to Cooman, who looked to have crossed the line with her shoulder first. In the summer of 1987, she again broke the national record for 100 m with a time of 10.97 and finished fifth at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. Between 1979–1987, she was ranked inside the world's top ten in the 100 metres six times, and in the 200 metres three times. Taylor-Issajenko was a part of the doping regime of

George Astaphan George Mario "Jamie" Sahely Chehin Astaphan, M.D., B.Sc. (May 22, 1946 – August 18, 2006) was a physician who became infamous for giving steroids to the sprinter Ben Johnson. Dr. Astaphan was born on the island of St. Kitts in the West Indies. ...

, the physician who supplied

Ben Johnson Ben, Benjamin or Benny Johnson may refer to: In sports Association football *Ben Johnson (footballer, born 2000), English footballer * Ben Johnson (soccer) (born 1977), American soccer player Other codes of football *Ben Johnson (Australian footb ...

with

stanazolol Stanozolol ( abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used to treat hereditary angioedema. It was developed by American pharmaceutical company W ...

. After Issajenko's training partner Johnson tested positive for

stanozolol Stanozolol (Abbreviation, abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used to treat hereditary angioedema. It was developed by American pharmaceuti ...

in 1988, she testified in the

Dubin Inquiry The Dubin inquiry was a Canadian government Commission of Inquiry into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance held in 1989 after the Ben Johnson doping scandal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The commission was ...

and gave a detailed account of widespread substance abuse in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

which included her reading from her diary. She later told her story to writers

Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. O'Malley ...

and Karen O'Reilly for her biography ''Running Risks'' which was a detailed tell-all of her sprinting experiences and her dealings with performance-enhancing drugs. Today Issajenko is a single mother of four grown children. As of 2008, she works full-time with learning-disabled grade school students and has returned to track and field as a coach based out of the city of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

's track and field center on the

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

campus.https://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/504755 Ben Johnson scandal still haunts track world P.B. 100m - 10.97, 200m - 22.25, 400m - 51.81 .

Achievements

* 10 Times Canadian National 100 metres Champion 1979-84, 1986–88, 1992 * 8 Times Canadian National 200 metres Champion 1979-84, 1986–87 Note: In 1987, at the World Indoor Championships, Issajenko ran 7.08sec to win the silver medal behind Dutch Sprinter,

. Then in 1989, after her admittance of long term drug use at the Dubin inquiry, the IAAF stripped her of this medal and promoted the Bulgarian

Anelia Nuneva Aneliya Nuneva-Vechernikova ( bg, Анелия Нунева-Вечерниковa; born June 30, 1962) is a retired sprinter from Bulgaria who competed mainly in the 100 metres. In the final of the 100 m at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games she was ...

to the silver medal position and fellow Canadian

Angela Bailey Angela Bailey (28 February 1962 – 31 July 2021) was a Canadian track and field athlete. She is the Canadian record holder in the 100 metres with her personal best of 10.98 seconds in 1987. She also holds the 200 metres indoor national recor ...

to bronze.
Note: At the World Cup in 1979 and 1981, Taylor-Issajenko was representing the Americas continent.

References

*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor-Issajenko, Angella 1958 births Living people Canadian female sprinters Ben Johnson doping case Black Canadian track and field athletes Doping cases in athletics Canadian sportspeople in doping cases Jamaican emigrants to Canada Members of the Order of Canada Olympic track and field athletes of Canada Olympic silver medalists for Canada Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Sportspeople from Ontario Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for Canada Black Canadian sportswomen Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade silver medalists for Canada Universiade bronze medalists for Canada Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Olympic female sprinters

Career

Achievements

See also

References