Edwin Moses

Edwin Moses, born in 1955, American track athlete, a hurdler who specialized in the demanding 400-m hurdles. For more than 10 years (1977-1987) he was undefeated in his specialty, and during this period he won two gold medals at the Summer Olympic Games (1976 and 1984).

Born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of teachers, Edwin Corley Moses originally planned on becoming a physician. He ran track in high school and worked on his hurdling technique while attending Morehouse College on an academic scholarship. Throughout his career he constantly refined and improved his style. Shortly after his graduation from Morehouse, he set an American record of 48.3 sec for the 400-m hurdles in the Olympic trials. In the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal he won the gold medal in world-record time, 47.64 sec. He subsequently lowered the record three more times, reaching 47.02 sec in 1983.

In 1977, Moses won the World Cup 400-m hurdles in Dusseldorf, West Germany, beginning a string of 122 consecutive victories. Setting a record for dominance in a track event, he defeated all opponents until June 1987, when he lost a race in Madrid, Spain. He did not run in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, boycotted by most Western nations, but took the gold medal at the Los Angeles games in 1984. In 1988 he won the bronze medal at the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Moses was also a spokesperson for track and field athletes, using his prominence to demand better treatment and more prize money for competitors.