Edwin Moses: ‘Atlanta should be an athletic hub’

Morehouse College hosted the Edwin Moses Legends Track Meet on May 31, featuring world-class athletes racing on the Edwin C. Moses Track.

“It’s a dream come true,” Moses said after the highlight of the event – ​​the women’s 400 meters hurdles – when world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ran her best time yet this year: 52.70 seconds. She set the world record in 2022 – 50.68.

Moses broke the world record while a physics student at Morehouse.

“We didn’t have a lead when I was here,” Moses said. “It’s a vision that goes back more than 20 years.”

Vision? Make Atlanta a leading city in the nation in hosting professional athletics events.

Rich Kenah, CEO of the Atlanta Track Club, agrees with this vision. He sat in the stands just steps from the finish line and watched Morehouse host its first professional track and field event – ​​the first held on the campus of an HBCU (historically). Black Colleges and Universities).

“One of the big challenges to growing athletics is access to facilities,” Kenah said. “That’s why it’s been such a breath of fresh air to be here at Morehouse.”

On May 18, the Atlanta Track Club partnered with adidas to host the Atlanta City Games at Piedmont Park, a competition also featuring some of the world’s best track and field athletes.

“It was an incredible May,” Kenah said. The fact that in the span of one month Atlanta supported two world-class track and field events is a testament to the health of the sport in Georgia and Atlanta and the growth potential of the sport’s elite here.

The Atlanta Sports Council seeks to support these efforts.

“We always welcome opportunities to host global sporting events and showcase our city and state,” said Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council. “Fortunately, we are partners with the Atlanta Track Club, a premier membership organization focused on managing and staging Atlanta’s best running and track and field events. In partnership with the Atlanta Track Club, we will support additional recruiting opportunities for track and field events if they choose to pursue them.

One of the missing pieces, Kenah said, is that Atlanta has indoor facilities.

“I am making it my personal mission to build a world-class indoor track and field facility that can accommodate events like this so that Atlanta becomes the East Coast capital for running in general and running in particular. athletics,” Kenah said. In 2023, the Atlanta Track Club announced it was seeking to build a $100 million facility that would span approximately 200,000 square feet on a six-acre site in downtown, near public transportation. common.

The meeting at Morehouse had a jubilant atmosphere that included a host of dignitaries, including Billye Aaron, a philanthropist who is the widow of baseball legend Hank Aaron. She contributed $1 million of a $4.5 million price tag in 2022 to renovate Morehouse Stadium and raise the dilapidated track to world-class standards.

“This is a wonderful, wonderful opportunity to experience at Morehouse College,” said Aaron, who was thrilled to have played a part in the track renovation. “I think making Atlanta an athletic center is a wonderful idea.”

Helene Gayle, president of Spelman College, agrees.

“I think Atlanta should be the center of most things. Why not athletics? Gayle said. “To have Morehouse graduate and Atlanta resident Edwin Moses, what better place to have an athletic capital? This is a great aspiration to have.

Kenah said Atlanta and Morehouse already have an advantage because Moses is the most iconic name in the sport.

During the competition, the announcer introduced Moses by saying that he had won 122 consecutive races, a streak that will probably never be seen again. This winning streak lasted nine years, nine months and nine days.

“Edwin was my agent in 1992 when I was coming out of college and chasing my Olympic dreams,” said Kenah, who missed making the U.S. Olympic team in 1996 by a tenth of a second. “Taking the train with Edwin Moses across Europe, I saw how internationally respected he was.”

Today, the two are working together again. The Atlanta Track Club held four of its All Comers meets at Morehouse in May. The Morehouse Trail helps elevate Atlanta as a venue.

“It takes an intentional effort to maintain, build and program athletics facilities,” Kenah said. “What Edwin has done here at Morehouse will benefit a lot of people. This will help Morehouse attract some of the best track and field athletes to the school.

Using several athletic metaphors, Kenah said more is needed.

“The biggest obstacles are the facilities,” he said. “Morehouse has taken a big step forward, and the Atlanta Track Club will soon follow suit with an indoor track and field facility. We are quite far down the trail.

The day before the competition, Moses and the PUMA American Track League held a press conference where promoter Paul Doyle issued a $1 million challenge to any runner who could break the record set by Moses in the 400 meters hurdles – 47.02. Shakeem Hall-Smith of the Bahamas had the best time at the May 31 competition – 48.79.

The four athletes in attendance – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Matthew Boling, Angel Piccirillo and Khallifah Rosser – were in awe of being in Moses’ presence.

“This is a historic moment. I feel honored to be here,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. “Edwin, you did an incredible job. I just want to play to the best of my ability and have more opportunities like this.

All four athletes had the honor of competing in the first professional competition hosted at an HBCU.

“It’s huge,” said Rosser, who finished second in the men’s 400-meter hurdles on May 31. Rosser went on to say that it was important that the competition took place at Morehouse, an HBCU, because there are so many Black athletes in the category. sport. “It really means a lot to have someone so great in athletics (Moses) involved.”

Moses said he had signed a one-year license to use his name for the 2024 competition, but hinted there would be another competition in 2025.

“I am very grateful to have the best athletes in the world here. I’m just really happy that you all came to the first Edwin Moses Legends Meet. I’m delighted,” said Moses, who was keenly aware that the competition was taking place at a time when athletes hope to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. “I wish everyone the best in Paris.”

The press conference ended with the trailer for another of Moses’ projects: a documentary about his life called “Moses – 13 Steps.” He has been working on this project since 2020. Morgan Freeman is executive producer of the project in collaboration with Lori McCreary and the production company Revelations. Moses is currently working on the distribution of the film.

The documentary, however, does not address one of the most astonishing stories of his life.

In 2017, he suffered two head injuries, six weeks apart, the second occurring on August 17. The first concussion occurred when he fell down the stairs, and the second when he hit his head getting into his car. He was left with two and a half inches of blood in his skull.

“On August 29, I was in the emergency room and I was paralyzed. I had to relearn how to walk,” said Moses, who added that it affected his reasoning and vocabulary. He was nevertheless able to continue to exercise his functions as President of the Laureus World Sports Academy, Chairman Emeritus of the Education Committee of the American Anti-Doping Agency as well as Chairman of the Education Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He led meetings and everyone he worked with was supportive of his health issues.

At the May 31 meet, Moses looked back at what he had helped create in Morehouse and Atlanta in the world of athletics, and he expressed amazement at how far he had come.

“The recovery was uncertain for four years,” Moses said. “I never thought I would recover the way I did.”

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