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Legendary American hurdler Edwin Moses was unbeatable much of the '80s. Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edwin-Moses (May be subject to copyright) |
He went years without losing then, when a newfound rival finally did beat him – once – he just started another winning streak.
In a day with brash and cocky American runners such as Noah Lyle, it is a great time to look at one of America’s finest champions who just went about his business on the track.
That business was winning.
Starting out
Edwin Moses was born and raised in Ohio, attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia where he competed on the track team. He ran mostly the 120-yard hurdles and 440-yard dash and, before March of 1976, ran just one 400-metre hurdles race.
Edwin Moses was born and raised in Ohio, attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia where he competed on the track team. He ran mostly the 120-yard hurdles and 440-yard dash and, before March of 1976, ran just one 400-metre hurdles race.
That changed when he began to focus on the event. Wikipedia reveals with his height of six feet and two inches, he developed a technique where he was able to run a consistent 13 steps between each hurdle. This allowed him to pull away in the second half of races, because his competitors often took 15 strides, or chopped their stride, which changed their stride pattern.
The same year he began to focus on the 400-metre hurdles, he qualified for the 1976 United States Olympic Track and Field Team. They were off to Montreal for the games of the 21st Olympiad.
The 1976 Olympics were Edwin Moses’ first international meet. He won the gold medal and set a world record of 47.63 seconds. After breaking his own record the following year in Los Angeles with a time of 47.45 seconds, he lost to Harald Schmid of West Germany on August 26, 1977 in Berlin. It was Moses’ fourth defeat in the 400-metre hurdles.
Beginning the next week, Moses beat Schmid by 15 metres in Düsseldorf, and did not lose another race for nine years, nine months, and nine days.
Moses also won the International Association of Athletics Federations World Cup in 1977 in Düsseldorf and in 1979 in Montreal
Dawn of the decade
Edwin Moses qualified for the 1980 United States Olympic team, but he never got to compete in Moscow. The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Out of protest over this act of aggression, the United States, Canada, and other countries boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics, which the Soviets were hosting.
Edwin Moses qualified for the 1980 United States Olympic team, but he never got to compete in Moscow. The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Out of protest over this act of aggression, the United States, Canada, and other countries boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics, which the Soviets were hosting.
It always bothered me that these athletes were pawns in a political game. They had trained and sacrificed for years, only to have their dream snatched away over something completely out of their control. Something I did not learn until recently was that the United States created 461 Congressional Gold Medals for the American athletes.
Edwin Moses received one of those medals.
In 1981, he would win his third International Association of Athletics Federations World Cup, this time in Rome.
The 1984 Olympics
The first time I ever heard of Edwin Moses was at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. There was a lot of talk about him, because he hadn’t lost a race in seven years, and seemed virtually unbeatable. Coming into the 1984 Olympics, Moses had won 89 consecutive finals, including the inaugural 1983 World Championships in Helsinki.
The first time I ever heard of Edwin Moses was at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. There was a lot of talk about him, because he hadn’t lost a race in seven years, and seemed virtually unbeatable. Coming into the 1984 Olympics, Moses had won 89 consecutive finals, including the inaugural 1983 World Championships in Helsinki.
It was expected to be a coronation, more than a race. However, the competition did include Harald Schmidt, the last man to beat Moses, and up-and-coming 18-yeard old American Danny Harris. There was a third American who got a lot of attention as well, named Tranel Hawkins.
Moses did not disappoint, winning his second Olympic Gold Medal, in a time of 47.75 seconds. Harris won the silver with a time of 48.13 seconds, and Schmid won bronze in a time of 48.19 seconds. Hawkins finished sixth, in a time of 49.42 seconds.
I recall CBC commentator Geoff Gowan saying the only man who could beat Moses was not the German Harald Schmid, or fellow American Tranel Hawkins, but an up and coming hurdler named Danny Harris.
Gowan would prove to be prophetic.
What’s next
Edwin Moses just kept on winning, taking the gold medal in the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow.
Edwin Moses just kept on winning, taking the gold medal in the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow.
His streak ended on June 4, 1987 in Madrid, when the aforementioned Danny Harris beat him. Moses had won 122 consecutive races.
He immediately put together another 10-win streak, including the 1987 World Championship in Rome in August.
The final race of his career was the final of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where Edwin Moses took bronze, behind American Andre Phillips who won the gold and Amadou Dia Ba of Senegal who took the silver medal.
Edwin Moses retired after that race.
Parting thoughts
Edwin Moses was a model of consistency, effort, determination and hard work. He was one of the most dominant hurdlers in history but he wasn’t a dominator.
Edwin Moses was a model of consistency, effort, determination and hard work. He was one of the most dominant hurdlers in history but he wasn’t a dominator.
Instead, he was humble and went about his business. There was no chest thumping, bragging, or theatrics.
That, more than his record of achievement, is why I love Edwin Moses and consider him one of the very best of all time.
It wasn’t just that he won, but how he won, and what he did after.
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