medalistin doubles wheelchair tennis, addressed a
crowd of Shockers at a WSU Distinguished Alumni
Speaker event.
Nick Taylor ’04/05/07 energized the Rise & Shine crowd at a WSU Distinguished Alumni Speaker breakfast lecture Oct. 1 at the Marcus Welcome Center.
The three-time gold medalist in doubles wheelchair tennis spoke about his experiences, education and training leading to his winning gold – three times – at the Paralympic Games, first in Athens, Greece, in 2004; then in Beijing, China, in 2008; and, most recently, in London, England, in 2012, when he also won a bronze medal in wheelchair tennis singles.
Taylor is a Kansas native who holds three degrees from Wichita State: bachelor’s degrees in management information systems and in sport administration, plus a master’s degree, also in sport administration, which is a program offering of the College of Education.
He started making his splash on the international stage of wheelchair tennis back in 1999.
That year, he was named the U.S. Tennis Association Wheelchair Player of the Year.
Taylor has proven to be a consistently strong competitor in his chosen sport.
In addition to his three gold and one bronze medals, his accomplishments include more than 100 tournament titles, four U.S. Open doubles titles, four Australian Open doubles titles, as well as playing on 14 straight World Cup Teams.
He is a 2009 inductee into the USTA Missouri Valley Hall of Fame.
Taylor is also generous with his time and talents. He serves as president of the WSU Wheelchair Sport Club and as a volunteer assistant for Wichita State’s men’s tennis program.
Among the crowd at the morning event were Brenda Achey ’96, Spike Anderson ’93/95, Darron Boatright, WSU senior associate athletic director of external operations, Ken Brasted ’91, Sarah Crespo ’06, Connie Dietz ’68/71, Dick George ’61, Terre Johnson, vice president for development at the WSU Foundation, Derek Keller ’92/93, Rollin Ketteman ’53, Elizabeth King, president and CEO of the WSU Foundation, Wade Robinson, WSU vice president of Campus Life and University Relations, Rosalind Scudder ’64/72/78 and Eric Sexton ’87/92, WSU athletics director.
