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Some say he was the greatest hurdler of them all __ and they might be right! Edwin Moses won the gold in the 400 m hurdles in the 1976 Olympics, won the World Cup 400 m hurdles in Dusseldorf, Germany, the following year and then remained undefeated in that event for the next ten years, even at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 when he easily brushed aside the competition and won yet another gold.
Jet speed, combined with planned stride pattern __ he took only 13 strides between hurdles __ was the secret of his success. If today hurdlers don't jump over hurdles but simply run over them it is because Edwin Moses set the style. He made the hurdles seem non-existent.
The only hurdle he could not overcome was age. His glorious streak of 122 straight victories in his event was finally brought to an end by 21-year-old fellow American, Danny Harris, in 1987. Said Harris later: "It made me proud to have beaten an athlete of his calibre."
But Moses wasn't finished yet. In the 1988 Olympics he used up all the magic he had left, and grabbed a bronze.
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