Edwin Moses facts for kids
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Moses in 2008
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| Born | August 31, 1955 Dayton, Ohio, U.S. |
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| Height | 6 ft 2 in | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 180 lb | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Track and Field | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Hurdles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Morehouse College Team adidas |
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| Personal best(s) | 110 mH – 13.64 (1978) 400 mH – 47.02 (1983) 400 m – 45.60 (1977) |
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Medal record
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Edwin Corley Moses (born August 31, 1955) is an American former hurdler. He is famous for winning two gold medals in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympic Games.
What makes Edwin Moses truly special is his amazing winning streak. Between 1977 and 1987, he won 107 races in a row! He also broke the world record in the 400m hurdles four times. Besides his incredible running, Moses also helped change rules for Olympic athletes. He worked to make sure athletes could earn money without losing their chance to compete in the Olympics. He also helped create better drug testing rules in sports. In 2000, he became the first Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy. This group helps young people around the world through sports.
Contents
Competing in the 400m Hurdles
Edwin Moses was born in Dayton, Ohio. He went to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he studied physics and industrial engineering. He also ran for the school's track team. Morehouse College did not have its own track. So, Edwin trained at public high school tracks nearby.
Moses's Unique Running Style
Before 1976, Edwin had only run one 400m hurdles race. But once he started focusing on it, he got really good, really fast. Edwin was 6 feet 2 inches tall. His special technique was to take exactly 13 steps between each hurdle. This helped him pull ahead of his rivals in the second half of the race. Other runners often took 15 strides or changed their steps, which made them slower.
Olympic Gold and World Records
In 1976, Edwin qualified for the U.S. team for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. This was his first big international competition. He won the gold medal and set a new world record of 47.63 seconds!
The next year, he broke his own world record again. He ran the race in 47.45 seconds. After this, he lost one race to Harald Schmid in Berlin. This was his fourth and last defeat in the 400m hurdles for a very long time. The very next week, Edwin beat Schmid again. From that day on, he did not lose another race for nine years, nine months, and nine days!
The 1980 Olympic Boycott
Edwin was chosen for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. However, he could not compete because the U.S. boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Even though he couldn't compete, he received a special Congressional Gold Medal.
At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Edwin Moses was chosen to say the Olympic Oath. He won his second Olympic gold medal at these games.
Ending the Winning Streak
On June 4, 1987, American runner Danny Harris finally beat Edwin Moses in Madrid. By then, Edwin had won 122 races in a row! During this amazing streak, he also:
- Broke the world record two more times.
- Won three World Cup titles.
- Won a World Championship gold medal.
- Won his two Olympic gold medals.
After losing to Harris, Edwin still won 10 more races in a row. He earned his second World Championship gold medal in Rome that August. Edwin Moses finished his career by winning a bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
Helping Athletes and Sports
In 1979, Edwin Moses left his job to focus on running full-time. Over the next two years, he played a huge part in changing rules for international and Olympic athletes.
Olympic Eligibility Reforms
Edwin helped create the Athletes Trust Fund program. This program allowed athletes to receive money from governments or private groups. They could also get money from sponsors without losing their chance to compete in the Olympics. Edwin presented this idea to Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was the President of the International Olympic Committee. The idea was approved in 1981. This fund is still used today to help many Olympic athletes.
Drug Testing in Sports
Edwin Moses also worked hard to fight against illegal drugs in sports. He helped create strict rules for drug testing. In 1988, he designed the first random drug testing program for amateur sports. As a physicist, he helped create a system that has greatly reduced the use of performance-enhancing drugs in athletics for many years.
Awards and Honors
Even though he couldn't compete in the 1980 Olympics, Edwin Moses was named the Track & Field News Athlete of the Year in 1980.
- In 1981, he received the first USA Track & Field's Jesse Owens Award. This award is for the best U.S. track and field performer.
- In 1983, he received the AAU's James E. Sullivan Award. This is for the best amateur athlete in the United States.
- In 1984, ABC's Wide World of Sports named him Athlete of the Year.
- Also in 1984, he shared the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award with gymnast Mary Lou Retton.
- His hometown of Dayton, Ohio, renamed a street "Edwin C. Moses Boulevard" in his honor in 1984.
- In 1999, ESPN ranked him #47 on their list of "50 Greatest Athletes."
- In 2018, he received the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award.
Other Achievements and Contributions
After he stopped running track, Edwin Moses tried other sports.
- In 1990, he competed in a bobsled race in Germany. He and his teammate Brian Shimer won a bronze medal in the two-man bobsled.
- In 1994, he earned an MBA degree from Pepperdine University.
- He was also inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1994.
Since 2000, Edwin Moses has been the chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy. This group works to encourage more people to play sports. It also uses sports to help make positive changes in the world. Many Olympic and world champion athletes work with the Laureus Sports for Good Foundation. They help young people who are facing challenges around the world.
In 2008, Edwin Moses presented an award to Martin Luther King Jr.'s biographer, Taylor Branch. In 2009, the University of Massachusetts Boston gave him an honorary doctorate degree. This was to recognize his efforts to keep Olympic sports fair and to use sports for good in society. The track at Morehouse College is named the Edwin Moses Track in his honor. He is the only person from that school to win an Olympic gold medal.
Personal Life
Edwin Moses's father was a Tuskegee Airman. These were brave African-American military pilots who fought in World War II. Edwin is a vegetarian. He is also a humanitarian, meaning he works to improve people's lives. He is also an advocate for peace. He has one son named Julian, who was born in 1995 and plays volleyball.
Film
- "Moses – 13 Steps" is a documentary film about Edwin Moses. It was released in 2024.
See also
In Spanish: Edwin Moses para niños
