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The international athletics career of Alonzo Babers consisted of a
spectacular rise to fame, followed by a decisive and abrupt end. Up to
the end of 1982, Alonzo's best time over 400m was 45.9sec, but he
rapidly improved on that during 1983, running a best time of 45.07sec
when winning at Zurich on 24 August. Two weeks earlier, he had competed
at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki in the 4 x 400m relay.
Despite an excellent leg of 45.64sec by Babers in the final on August
10, the USA squad faded to a disappointing sixth following a fall during
the third leg. Not undaunted, Babers continued his rapid improvement
in 1984. On 19 June, at the USA Final Olympic Trials in Los Angeles, he
won his semi-final in a personal best of 44.95sec. Two days later, in
the final, he qualified for the Olympic team with another personal best
of 44.86sec.
At the Los Angeles Olympic Games on August 5, he further
lowered his personal best to 44.75sec when he won his quarter-final.
Three days later, in the Olympic final, Babers annihilated the
opposition, running a staggering 44.27sec (see photo above) to
win the gold medal. In the 4 x 400m relay held on August 11, the USA
were running second behind Australia at the end of the second leg, but
after a 43.75sec leg from Babers, the race was effectively over, and the
USA won the gold medal easily in 2min 57.91sec. As quickly as Babers
had come into the international athletics spotlight, he quickly stepped
out of it. He was a second lieutenant in the air force, and had
received orders before the Olympics to report to pilot training on
September 12. Faced with a choice between running and flying, Alonzo
chose the latter, and his athletics career was over. (Ron Casey)
He was an active duty officer in the United States Air Force from 1983 to 1991 and flew missions in Desert Storm. He attended the United States Air Force Academy from 1979 to 1983, graduating with a major in aerospace engineering.
He then worked for United Airlines flying Boeing 777 airliners.
David Grindley the former British 400m record holder (44.47s) and Olympic bronze medalist also worked as a commercial airline pilot.
Babers attended high school in Germany, where his father was stationed in the military.
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