Greg Foster’s First World Championship
by Steve McGill
For this month’s great race, we’re going to go back to the inaugural World Championships in track and field, in 1983 in Helsinki. Gold medalist Greg Foster’s winning time of 13.42 was not what was so impressive, as he had run faster than that plenty of times. The amazing thing was that he held on for the win after encountering near-catastrophe over the last three hurdles. In terms of historical significance, this victory was the first of three consecutive World Championship gold medals for Foster, who also won in 1987 and again in 1991. Back then, the World Championships were held once every four years. If it had been held every two years like it is now, there’s a very good chance he would have won even more. Foster’s body of work, dating back to the mid-1970’s is as impressive as that of any hurdler in history. Though several hurdlers have run faster than his personal best of 13.03, only two — Allen Johnson, Colin Jackson — can claim to have been as good for as long. Because Foster never broke the 13-second barrier, never held the world record, and never won an Olympic gold medal, his career often goes under the radar. Roger Kingdom reigned during Olympic years in Foster’s heyday. In 1984, Foster, in lane 8, finished .04 behind Kingdom, in lane 1. Lanes were assigned randomly back then, so they didn’t even see each other until they crossed the finish line.
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Heading into this 1983 World Championship race, Foster was unequivocally the man to beat in the 110’s. His fierce rivalry with world record holder Renaldo Nehemiah had come to an end a year earlier, when Nehemiah, frustrated by the 1980 Olympic boycott and with “shamateurism” in track and field, abandoned his track career to pursue a career in professional football with the San Francisco 49ers. In the late ’70’s and the first two years of the ’80’s, Nehemiah and Foster had truly “changed the game,” as their exceptional talents and their genuine dislike of each other not only made the 110’s a featured event, but also raised the standards of excellence every time they laced up their spikes.
With Nehemiah gone, Foster reigned supreme. Kingdom was on the rise but still wasn’t quite on that level yet. Willie Gault, Tonie Campbell, and Sam Turner were the other best Americans, but none had formed a rivalry with Foster like the one he once had with Nehemiah. Campbell didn’t make the World Championship team that year, as Gault, the NCAA champion, was looking better and better every race. Other big names in the race were Arto Bryggare of Finland, Mark McKoy of Canada (who would go on to earn an Olympic gold medal in 1992), and Germany’s Thomas Munkelt, who had established himself as the best European hurdler over the previous four years. But Foster was the clear favorite. It wasn’t a question of whether he would win, but by how much.
But this is the hurdles we’re talking about. It only takes one mistake to ruin a race. And Foster had a reputation for hitting hurdles, for stumbling, and even crashing. So anything could happen.
In lane five, Foster exploded out of the blocks and took control of the race instantly. With each hurdle, he slightly increased his lead on his opponents, almost to the point where it looked like he was in a race by himself, and everyone else was battling it out for second. Foster was humming over the hurdles. His lead arm was looking tighter and more efficient than it ever had back in the days of the Nehemiah duels. His lead leg was driving forward and snapping down with no wasted airtime. But then came the mistake. At hurdle eight, the hamstring of his lead leg caught the hurdle as the leg was snapping down. He stumbled forward but managed to keep going. He then smashed into hurdle nine with the foot of his lead leg as he was attacking the hurdle. Somehow, he still managed to stay upright and clear the tenth hurdle (which he hit with the foot of his trail leg) and sprint to the finish line.
With Foster smacking the last three hurdles, he fell back to the pack. Bryggare in lane seven and Gault in lane eight were closing the gap, but they ran out of room. Foster crossed the finish line in first place, with his 13.42 a mere .04 faster than Bryggare’s 13.46. Gault earned the bronze in 13.48.
So, what was looking to be a dominant performance turned out to be a very competitive contest after all. Ironically, this race has had as much influence on how I coach as any race I’ve ever watched. At the time, the common way of thinking was that Foster’s height (6’3″) made him susceptible to crashes. And while this was true, and while it’s also true that Foster was exceptionally powerful in his lower body, I feel like his technique was the issue. When you don’t drive with the knee of the lead leg, you take away space to clear each hurdle. When the foot is driving up at the hurdle, as opposed to the knee driving forward into the hurdle, there is much greater chance of hitting hurdles and of losing control of the lead leg. Mistakes will happen when 1) you’re running from behind, chasing someone, and when 2) fatigue becomes a factor late in the race. In this particular race, fatigue was the issue. The lead leg hung a little too long, just like a tired pitcher in baseball might hang the curve ball just a tad too long in the late innings. Then once he hit that eighth hurdle, it was just a matter of survival. Fortunately, Foster’s athleticism and competitive instincts saved him, or else he would’ve wound up on the ground. But yeah, this race, more than any other, is why I preach the gospel of lead with the knee, drive with the knee, cycle the leg back under the hip.
At the same time, this race holds a lot of nostalgic significance for me, as it was the first race World Championship final, and I had just started my own hurdling career the year before — my sophomore year of high school. Nehemiah had already moved on to football by the time I started hurdling. So I basically grew up in the hurdles watching Foster and cheering for him to win every race he ran.
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