Edwin Moses

Key facts and history

He ran his first 400-meter hurdles race several months before the 1976 Olympics, and in one year transformed how athletes would run the event.^[2] Moses mathematically calculated that the fastest way to run the 400-meter hurdles was to take 13 steps between hurdles, while most hurdlers at the time took 15.^[2] The following week in Düsseldorf, Moses defeated Schmid by 15 meters, beginning a winning streak that lasted nine years, nine months, and nine days.^[3]

What the cited sources add

The Andscape article notes that Moses initially started running track at Morehouse to relieve academic stress, often practicing at local high schools because Morehouse lacked a track.^[2] The same source states that Moses, a physics major, calculated that running closest to the inside line in 13 steps was the fastest way to run the 400-meter hurdles.^[2] The Picturing Black History account explains that Moses and other Morehouse runners used coursework in biology and chemistry to inform their diets, strategies, and training regimens.^[4] The Irish Times article reports that Moses helped lead the clampdown on Russia's state-sponsored doping programme.^[5]

That article also quotes Moses saying he negotiated agreements to test athletes, creating the first out-of-competition testing in 1988.^[5]