Taylor Ellis Watson

Early life

Taylor Ellis-Watson was born on May 6, 1993 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ellis-Watson began running at age 12, and she excelled in track as a high school student. In 2011 she graduated from Springside School, which has since been renamed Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.

Track and field

Ellis-Watson first attended college at the University of Pittsburgh where she was named All-Big East Conference in track. After two years, she transferred from Pittsburgh to the University of Arkansas seeking the increased competition that comes at an SEC track school. In November 2013 and December 2014, Ellis-Watson had surgery on her left foot to repair a stress fracture. Ellis-Watson was an 11-time All-American at Arkansas and was part of the school's 2015 indoor track and 2016 outdoor track national championship teams. Although she graduated from college 2015, Ellis-Watson began working towards her post-graduate degree in counseling and continuing to compete in the NCAA through 2016.

At the 2016 Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, Ellis-Watson finished fourth in the 400 meters with a personal best time of 50.25. She missed qualifying for the individual 400 meter .08 of a second. The result was still good enough to earn Ellis-Watson a spot on the U.S. 4 x 400 women's relay team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. At the Olympics, Ellis-Watson ran the second leg of the preliminary round of the 4 x 400 relay with a split of 50.81 seconds. Although Ellis-Watson did not race in the finals, she won gold for being part of the winning relay team.

Personal life

As of 2016, Ellis-Watson is engaged to be married to fellow track athlete Wesley Washington. The pair met while Ellis-Watson was a student at the University of Pittsburgh.