View source for Angella Taylor-Issajenko

{{Short description|Canadian sprinter (born 1958)}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
|medaltemplates=
{{MedalSport | Women's [[Sport of athletics|athletics]]}}
{{MedalCountry | {{CAN}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalSilver| [[1984 Summer Olympics|1984 Los Angeles]] | [[Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics|4×100 m relay]]}} 
{{MedalCompetition|[[Commonwealth Games]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[1982 Commonwealth Games|1982 Brisbane]] | [[Athletics at the 1982 Commonwealth Games|100 metres]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[1982 Commonwealth Games|1982 Brisbane]] | [[Athletics at the1982 Commonwealth Games|4×400 metres]]}}
{{MedalSilver| [[1982 Commonwealth Games|1982 Brisbane]] | [[Athletics at the 1982 Commonwealth Games|4×100 metres]]}}
{{MedalBronze| [[1982 Commonwealth Games|1982 Brisbane]] | [[Athletics at the 1982 Commonwealth Games|200 metres]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[1986 Commonwealth Games|1986 Edinburgh]] | [[Athletics at the 1986 Commonwealth Games|200 metres]]}}
{{MedalSilver| [[1986 Commonwealth Games|1986 Edinburgh]] | [[Athletics at the 1986 Commonwealth Games|4×100 metres]]}}
{{MedalBronze| [[1986 Commonwealth Games|1986 Edinburgh]] |[[Athletics at the 1986 Commonwealth Games|100 metres]]}}   
{{MedalCompetition|[[Pan American Games]]}}
{{MedalSilver| [[1979 Pan American Games|1979 San Juan]] | [[Athletics at the 1979 Pan American Games|200 metres]]}}
{{MedalBronze| [[1979 Pan American Games|1979 San Juan]] | [[Athletics at the 1979 Pan American Games|100 metres]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Universiade]]}}
{{MedalSilver| [[1983 Summer Universiade|1983 Edmonton]] | [[Athletics at the 1983 Summer Universiade|4 × 100 m relay]]}}
{{MedalBronze| [[1983 Summer Universiade|1983 Edmonton]] | [[Athletics at the 1983 Summer Universiade|100 metres]]}}   
|birth_date={{birth date and age|1958|9|28}}
|birth_place=[[Jamaica]]
|birth_name=Angella Taylor
}}
'''Angella Taylor-Issajenko''', [[Order of Canada|CM]] ([[née]] Taylor; born September 28, 1958) is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] coach and former [[Sprint (running)|sprinter]]. She won an Olympic silver medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay in [[Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics|Los Angeles 1984]]. At the [[Commonwealth Games]] she won seven medals, including the 100 metres title in [[Athletics at the 1982 Commonwealth Games|Brisbane 1982]] and the 200 metres in [[Athletics at the 1986 Commonwealth Games|Edinburgh 1986]].

==Career==
Taylor was born in Jamaica on September 28, 1958. Her breakout performance came at the 1979 [[Pan American Games|Pan Am Games]], where she took a [[Bronze medal|bronze]] in the [[100 metres|100 m]] and a [[Silver medal|silver]] in the [[200 metres|200 m]], and set [[Canadian records in athletics|national records]] of 11.20 and 22.80 respectively. Despite Canada's boycott of the [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Olympic Games]] in [[Moscow]], she dominated post-Olympic competition in the summer of 1980, winning several meets, and finishing second in the 100 m to [[Marlies Göhr]], and third in the 200 m behind [[Bärbel Wöckel]] at the final stop in [[Zürich]]. She was the 200 m champion at the [[Liberty Bell Classic]] (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.

Taylor was the [[1982 Commonwealth Games|1982 Commonwealth]] 100 m champion in 11.00, a [[List of Commonwealth Games records in athletics|Commonwealth record and Games record]], and anchored Canada to a [[Gold medal|gold]] in the [[4 × 400 metres relay|4 × 400 m relay]], holding off [[Raelene Boyle]]. 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),<ref name=SR>{{cite web|title=Angella Taylor-Issajenko|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ta/angella-taylor-issajenko-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418044435/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ta/angella-taylor-issajenko-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 18, 2020|publisher=[[Sports-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 3, 2014}}</ref> 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 [[Universiade|World University Games]] held in [[Edmonton]]. She also won 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]]. She also gave birth to her first child. In 1986, now known as Angella Issajenko, she was again [[1986 Commonwealth Games|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 [[List of world records in athletics|world 50 m record indoors]] with a 6.06 clocking in [[Ottawa]] in 1987. She won a silver medal in 1987 World Indoor Championships in a tight finish with [[Nelli Cooman]], 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 [[1987 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]. 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.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Taylor-Issajenko was a part of the [[Doping (sport)|doping]] regime of [[George Astaphan]], the physician who supplied [[Ben Johnson (Canadian sprinter)|Ben Johnson]] with [[stanazolol]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Janofsky |title=Doctor Says That He Treated Johnson With Steroids for 5 Years |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=950DE6DE1739F936A15756C0A96F948260 |work=New York Times |date=1989-05-25 |access-date=2007-01-01 }}</ref> After Issajenko's training partner Johnson tested positive for [[stanozolol]] in 1988, she testified in the [[Charles Dubin|Dubin Inquiry]] and gave a detailed account of widespread substance abuse in [[Sport of athletics|athletics]] which included her reading from her diary. She later told her story to writers [[Martin O'Malley (journalist)|Martin 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.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

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]]'s track and field center on the [[York University]] campus.<ref>https://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/504755 Ben Johnson scandal still haunts track world</ref>
 
Personal bests: 100m – 10.97, 200m – 22.25, 400m – 51.81 .{{cn|date=April 2024}}

==Achievements==
* 10 Times Canadian National 100 metres Champion 1979–84, 1986–88, 1992
* 8 Times Canadian National 200 metres Champion 1979–84, 1986–87
{| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}}
|-
!colspan="6" |Representing {{CAN}}
|-
|1978
|[[Athletics at the 1978 Commonwealth Games|Commonwealth Games]]
|[[Edmonton|Edmonton, Alberta]], Canada
|heats
|200 m
|23.81
|-
|rowspan=5|1979
|rowspan=2|[[1979 Pan American Games|Pan American Games]]
|rowspan=2|[[San Juan, Puerto Rico]]
|bgcolor="cc9966" | 3rd
|100 m
|11.36
|-
|bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
|200 m
|22.74w
|-
|rowspan=3|[[1979 IAAF World Cup|World Cup]]
|rowspan=3|[[Montreal|Montreal, Quebec]], Canada
|5th
|100 m
|11.50
|-
|5th
|200m
|22.83
|-
|5th
|4 × 100 m
|43.99
|-
|rowspan=3|1981
|rowspan=3|[[1981 IAAF World Cup|World Cup]]
|rowspan=3|[[Rome, Italy]]
|4th
|100m
|11.18
|-
|4th
|200m
|22.67
|-
|4th
|4 × 100 m
|43.06
|-
|rowspan=4|1982
|rowspan=4|[[Athletics at the 1982 Commonwealth Games|Commonwealth Games]]
|rowspan=4|[[Brisbane, Australia]]
|bgcolor="silver" | 1st
|100m
|11.00
|-
|bgcolor="cc9966" | 3rd
|200 m
|22.48w
|-
|bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
|4 × 100 m
|43.66
|-
|bgcolor="gold" | 1st
|4 × 400 m
|3:27.70
|-
|rowspan=3|1983
|rowspan=3|[[1983 Summer Universiade|Summer Universiade]]
|rowspan=3|[[Edmonton|Edmonton, Alberta]], Canada
|bgcolor="cc9966" | 3rd
|100 m
|11.17
|-
|4th
|200m
|22.81
|-
|bgcolor="silver"| 2nd
|4 × 100 m
|43.21
|-
|1983
|[[1983 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Helsinki, Finland]]
|7th
|100 m
|[[1983 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 100 metres|11.30]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1984
|rowspan=2|[[Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|rowspan=2|[[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]], United States
|8th
|100 m
|[[Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres|11.62]]
|-
|bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
|4 × 100 m
|[[Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay|42.77]]
|-
|rowspan=3|1986
|rowspan=3|[[Athletics at the 1986 Commonwealth Games|Commonwealth Games]]
|rowspan=3|[[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]]
|bgcolor="cc9966" | 3rd
|100 m
|11.21
|-
|bgcolor="gold" | 1st
|200 m
|22.91
|-
|bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
|4 × 100 m
|43.83
|-
|rowspan=3|1987
|[[1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships|World Indoor Championships]]
|[[Indianapolis|Indianapolis, Indiana]] United States
|DISQ
|60 m
|DISQ
|-
|rowspan=2|[[1987 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|rowspan=2|[[Rome, Italy]]
|5th
|100 m
|[[1987 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 100 metres|11.09]]
|-
|6th
|4 × 100 m
|[[1987 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay|43.26]]
|-
|rowspan=2|1988
|rowspan=2|[[Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|rowspan=2|[[Seoul, South Korea]]
|quarter-final
|100 m
|[[Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres|11.27]]
|-
|semi-final
|4 × 100 m
|[[Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay|43.82]]
|}
<small>'''Note:''' In 1987, at the World Indoor Championships, Issajenko ran 7.08sec to win the silver medal behind Dutch Sprinter, [[Nelli Cooman]]. 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]] to the silver medal position and fellow Canadian [[Angela Bailey]] to bronze.<br>'''Note:''' At the World Cup in 1979 and 1981, Taylor-Issajenko was representing the Americas continent.</small>

==See also==
*[[List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences]]

== References ==
*{{World Athletics||name=Angella Taylor-Issajenko}}
{{Reflist}}
<br>
{{Footer Commonwealth Champions 100 metres Women}}
{{Footer Commonwealth Champions 200m Women}}
{{Footer Commonwealth Champions 4x400 m Women}}
{{Authority control}}

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