Morehouse hosts international athletics competition in honor of Edwin Moses

Some of the nation’s best athletes sprinted on the newly renovated Morehouse College track during the first annual Edwin Moses Legends Track and Field Meet.

Last month, the Puma American Track League hosted the event honoring the Morehouse alum and Olympic gold medalist.

“It’s fantastic to have a truly world-class track meet with world-class athletes and the opportunity to achieve their best times for the world this year,” Moses said.

Track and field athletes from around the world, united by their love of sports, competed on the Edwin C. Moses Track at the BT Harvey Stadium soccer field. Their performances were a taste of the excitement and talent that awaits us at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris later this summer, a testament to the global reach and appeal of athletics.

Former Olympians present

Notable stars of the sport included 400 meter hurdler and Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, middle distance runners Matthew Boling and Angel Piccirillo, and 400 meter hurdler Khalifah Rosser.

Moses remembers when the school didn’t have a track to practice on when he was a student at the all-male HBCU in the 1970s. He had to resort to show jumping instead of real hedges.

The original track was resurfaced for the 1996 Centennial Olympics, but little or no maintenance was carried out, leading to disrepair.

In 2014, Moses had a vision to restore and update the trail, which took nearly ten years.

“My vision in 2014 was to build the track and bring events to the stadium,” Moses said.

Edwin Moses’ vision comes to life with help

With the help of Morehouse and donors like Billie Aaron, wife of baseball legend Hank Aaron, the vision came to life last year.

Edwin Moses won the gold medal in the 400 meter hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympic Games, where he set the world record in the event four times. His final best of 47.02 seconds in this event is still his fastest to date.

“We have someone who has played a very important role in the sport, especially for me as a hurdler, so meeting him was so important to do what he did in his time and be able to complete the loop, it’s big, and I’m happy to be a part of it, just like I’m sure the rest of the athletes are,” Rosser said.

“In this age of sports where that is impossible, a lot of that is due to Edwin’s success and all the work he has done at Morehouse,” Piccirillo said.

Historic moment in athletics

For McLaughlin-Levrone, the competition is a historic moment for the sport.

She said: “Edwin has done an incredible job in our sport; being a representative of the black community has been at the pinnacle of the sport, and to be able to come back now and bring it back here so we can be a part of it, I want to perform to the best of my ability to be able to show how far our sport has come and be able to continue this in the future.

Moses hopes track continues to bring more events to his alma mater and recruiting for the Maroon Tigers track team.

“Hopefully track can put us in a position to start recruiting some higher quality guys and maybe come to Morehouse, get an Ivy League school education and run track as well,” said Moses.

Related

Morehouse hosts international athletics competition in honor of Edwin Moses