--- title: "Tate Taylor not turning pro at World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon; LA28 on horizon, college route chosen" sdDatePublished: "2026-08-11T13:14:00Z" source: "https://www.olympics.com/en/news/tate-taylor-world-u20-champion-one-upping-noah-lyles" topics: - name: "athletics" identifier: "medtop:20000827" - name: "Olympic Games" identifier: "medtop:20001177" - name: "sport" identifier: "medtop:15000000" locations: - "Texas" - "San Antonio" - "Eugene" - "Gainesville" --- Tate Taylor not turning pro at World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon; LA28 on horizon, college route chosen Tate Taylor exclusive: Triple world U20 champion on not turning pro, 'one-upping' Noah Lyles, and the long road to LA28 Tate Taylor exclusive: Triple world U20 champion on not turning pro, 'one-upping' Noah Lyles, and the long road to LA28 Taylor was one of the standout stars of the World Athletics U20 Championships Oregon 26 (5-9 August), winning gold in the men's 100m, 200m and 4x100m. The 18-year-old spoke exclusively to Olympics.com about his success and his plan to "one-up" Olympic champion Noah Lyles. Most 18-year-olds with a world title, a 19.75 personal best, and a win over an Olympic champion on their resume would be going pro. Tate Taylor is going to college. Three golds in four days at the World Athletics U20 Championships last week - the 100m in 9.94, the 200m in a championship record of 19.83, then a world U20 record (38.16) anchor leg in the 4x100m - made the San Antonio sprinter the first man in the 40-year history of the World U20 Championships to complete the sprint treble. The last U.S. male athlete to win the world U20 100m title was Noah Lyles , in 2016. Lyles turned professional that summer, straight out of high school, and has since gone on to win three Olympic medals, including gold in the 100m at Paris 2024 , and claim eight world titles. Taylor, though, has a different roadmap for his future. Tate Taylor wins the men’s 200m at the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships. 'There's no rush to go pro' Taylor attended Harlan High School in San Antonio Texas, where he first made his mark on the track. By the end of his junior year he held the national high school 100m record, won the Texas 6A sprint double, and a soft drinks company named him the national boys track and field player of the year. "I realised at an early age that track is so universal," Taylor told Olympics.com in Eugene. "And I was like, if I get good enough, college will be free. I did not want my parents worrying about paying for college." Taylor signed with Texas Tech in January and announced he would skip his final season racing for Harlan, focusing on national meets and racing professionals instead. Then came the Prefontaine Classic in July, where he stunned the athletics world by beating Paris 2024 200m champion Letsile Tebogo in 19.75 – the third-fastest 200m ever run by an under-20 athlete. After that feat, many assumed he would forgo college after all. "There's just no rush to go pro," Taylor says, explaining his decision. "It's not an Olympic year, it's not a crazy year for athletics. "People are like, 'Man, go pro, there's no reason to go to college, you'll get hurt, whatever.' God has put no desire in my heart to go pro, so I'm not going pro just because somebody else wants me to. "College is a privilege. Not everybody gets to go to college." Taylor celebrates winning the 200m at the Prefontaine Classic. One of those in favour of Taylor turning pro was Noah Lyles. The pair have been linked all season, not least because Taylor keeps taking his records. In April, at the Tom Jones Invitational in Gainesville, Taylor broke Lyles' national high school 200m mark with a 20.05 effort. Lyles was at the meet, and made his pitch in person. "My rise is very similar to his," Taylor said. "He had plenty of records on the high school level, but he turned pro straight out of high school. So I'm going to one-up him. I'm going to go to college. "He actually told me at Tom Jones, he was like, 'Man, why don't you just turn pro?' I was like, that is a good point, but I've got to do it where I'm at. One year of college, go do my thing in that Tech uniform, and then that Olympic year, '28, that's when we'll buckle down on the pro circuit." This double Gold that Tate Taylor and Mia Maxwell just pulled off is probably one of the hardest to do. Mostly because of how hard the schedule is. 6 races in 4 days is SOOO hard on the body. Then to do it as U20 athletes is even crazier." - Noah Lyles, posting on X , applauding Taylor and Maxwell's respective gold medals in the men's and women's 100 and 200m at the U20 World Championships. Noah Lyles - Paris 2024 - Olympic Games Rewind The closest Olympic men’s 100m sprint final in history needed all his main character energy. Watch to see how Lyles timed his dip to perfection and won gold for Team USA. Chains, bling and a $15 TikTok buy Taylor is nearly as recognisable for his jewellery as for his times. The blue chain he wears was a reward from his coach; the red-and-white one came from a scroll on social media. "I found it on TikTok. It cost like $15," he says. "I’m repping it. It looks good on camera." Where most sprinters shed grams, Taylor adds: "Yes, it adds weight, but say I take this off, it’s not going to take me from 10.0 all the way down to 9.7," he said. "It’s a mentality thing. What did Deion [Sanders] say? Look good, feel good, play good." 'I just got to be patient' Taylor is well aware of the meteoric rise he's currently enjoying, and he's doing his best to stay grounded all the same. "When you talk about my progression and how God really shot me up, it's absolutely incredible," he says. "All I wanted to do was go sub-10. Now it's like, okay, now that I went sub-10, I'm getting followers, people know me, I'm gaining more opportunities. It's the blessing that you don't necessarily account for." The 6-foot-2 (1.88m), 165lbs (75kg) sprinter is now a teammate of Quincy Wilson , who won 4x400m gold with the USA at Paris 2024. "If you'd have told me two years ago that you're going to be on the same U20 team as Quincy Wilson and you're gonna double in the one and the two, I'd have been like, 'Man, it's going to take a lot to get there. Are you sure? Who told you that?'" Nevertheless, Taylor has got there. But the big goal, competing at the LA28 Games, is still at the forefront of his mind. "God’s got a plan for me, and eventually his plan will get me there if I stick to it. But I just got to be patient, man. I know I’m excited, but I just got to be patient." Men's 4x400m Relay Final | Athletics | Olympic Games Paris 2024 The Men's 4x400m Final took place at Stade de France, on 10 24. The United States of America claimed Gold with a new Olympic Record time of 2:54.43mins., Botswana took Silver and Great Britain completed the podium. Taking it to the Olympic level Yet patience isn’t the same as being content. "Yes, I'm satisfied," he says. "But at some point I'll be like, okay, we got the U20. Now let's see what we can do. Let's take it further, to the world level, to the Olympic level. And even by the grace of the Lord, when I win that Olympic gold, I'd be satisfied for sure. "But then I'm gonna be like, okay, how does two sound? And then how does three sound? And then how does four sound? You get the picture. "That title and that medal are important. I could have gone out there with a 10.4 and a 20.5, but as long as I win, nobody can take this gold medal away from me. "Nobody can take away that year that I'm the champion. Simple as that." By Will Imbo Matt Nelsen Getty Images for World Athletics 2026