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Edwin Moses can be truly regarded as one of the superstars of track and
field. In the 400m Hurdles, he set four World Records and established a
winning streak of 122 consecutive races (107 finals) between two
defeats almost a decade apart. His rise to international fame was
spectacularly rapid. He had been virtually unknown before 1976, but in
that year, he won the US Olympic Trials and this raised expectations of a
possible medal at the Olympic Games in Montreal later that year.
At
Montreal, the 20 year-old Moses placed himself in a class above his
rivals. In his semi-final, Moses won easily in a new US national record
of 48.29sec. The other semi-final was won by compatriot Mike Shine and
it was expected that these two would contest the final to be held the
next day (25 July). In the final, Moses had a small lead over Shine at
the halfway mark, but then quickly and steadily increased his lead,
hitting the tape in a phenomenal 47.63sec, not only breaking his US
record by 0.66sec, but also lowering the World Record by 0.19sec. No
doubt even Moses found it difficult to comprehend as he relaxed with
Shine after the time had been announced (see photo above).
On 11
June 1977, Moses lowered his World Record further, clocking 47.45sec at
Los Angeles and was selected to represent the USA at the World Cup in
Dusseldorf on 2 September. However, a week before the World Cup, in
Berlin on 26 August, he was beaten by rising West German star Harald
Schmid. This was the last time that Moses would taste defeat for 10
years. At Dussledorf, Moses led from the start, beating Volker Beck
(East Germany) and Schmid by over a second in 47.58 sec, the second
fastest time ever run. (Ron Casey)
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