Local race walking judge Steve Taylor (above) has been appointed as an official for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. It is his third Olympic appointment.

Prior to becoming a judge, Steve enjoyed success as a competitor, the highlight of which was a memorable performance in the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia.

He first became involved in race walking when he was asked to make up a local team for the Merseyside Schools Championships in 1982.

Encouraged by Mike Karran and Andrew Garrett he finished in third place, but failed to make the cut for the English Schools Championships.

The big bonus was that at around this time he first met Allan Callow, who became his coach, rival and great friend to this day.

Shortly before his 20th birthday in 1986, Steve was selected to represent Great Britain as a junior in Madrid over a distance of 20 kilometres.

The race was won by Daniel Plaza of Spain who went on to become the 1992 Olympic champion. As a member of Boundary Harriers, and later of Manx Harriers, Steve won team medals in many national championship events but never made the podium as an individual.

1993 was a breakthrough year in which Steve achieved the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games qualifying standard for the 30km walk, and he went on to represent the island the following year in Canada.

Britain as a junior in Madrid over a distance of 20 kilometres.

The race was won by Daniel Plaza of Spain who went on to become the 1992 Olympic champion. As a member of Boundary Harriers, and later of Manx Harriers, Steve won team medals in many national championship events but never made the podium as an individual.

1993 was a breakthrough year in which Steve achieved the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games qualifying standard for the 30km walk, and he went on to represent the island the following year in Canada.

His performance in finishing 14th in a personal best time of 2hr 21min 34sec was without doubt the highlight of his competitive career. The video footage captured by the late Murray Lambden of the race finish, and the moments afterwards, clearly revealed the sheer delight shared by Steve and his coach Allan, that all the shared hard work and preparation had come to fruition with such a superb performance.

Steve was selected to represent Great Britain as a senior in Hungary the following year in what was his final appearance internationally.

He continued to regularly attend local events, especially when his eldest children Callum and Kirsty began to participate.

In 2003 Callum was disqualified at the national junior championships in Sheffield, and Steve was so distraught that he decided there and then that he wanted to become a race walking judge. He already had plenty of officiating experience as a local football referee.

He considers himself fortunate that he was soon taken under the wing of Peter Marlow – considered as the ‘Godfather’ of race walk judging all over the world. He passed the European level exam in 2005 and then the world level exam in 2007.

His first big event as a judge was the European Junior Championships in Hengelo, Netherlands and then in 2007 the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan. The night before the first race in Osaka was reminiscent of the night before Steve’s Commonwealth Games race in 1994 as he was physically sick due to nerves.

Since that time, his list of appointments include: two Olympic Games, including chief judge at London 2012; five world championships (chief judge in 2013 and 2017); five World Team Championships; three European championships (chief judge 2014); two Commonwealth Games (chief judge 2022).

The latter was a particularly busy year during which he judged at the World Team Championships, World Athletics Championships, European Athletics Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

He has also judged at world and European Grand Prix meetings and at age group championships, and has been technical delegate at a number of world and European Athletics Grand Prix events. In 2023 he was technical director at the European Team Championships in Poděbrady, Czech Republic.

Whilst a regular worldwide traveller through his many race walking appointments, he rarely misses a local race walking event, officiating and encouraging in events ranging from track and field league 400 metres walks to the Parish Walk.

Despite all his achievements at the highest level of international athletics over the years, Steve remains an avid follower and supporter of Manx sport generally, and one of his proudest moments in sport was when his son Keoghan was selected to represent the Isle of Man as a long jumper at the 2019 Island Games in Gibraltar.

Looking back over his highly successful career as a race walk judge, and with an eye on Paris 2024, Steve said: ‘Although I have a great deal of experience now, including being an examiner for European Athletics, I still speak to my dear friend and mentor Peter Marlow as I am forever grateful for his wise counsel.’

Steve is a shining example to aspiring officials in any sport that if you are prepared to work hard and have a burning ambition, there is no limit to how high you can go.