| During the period from 1978 until he turned to pro football in 1981, Renaldo Nehemiah was the greatest high hurdler on the planet. He was the world record holder, the first man to run the high hurdles in under 13 seconds, and probably would have been the 1980 Olympic champion had the U.S not boycotted those Games. He was the top-ranked high hurdler four-straight years. An international star even while in high school, Nehemiah was the national junior champion in 1977, then went to the University of Maryland where he won three NCAA titles, two indoors and one outdoors. He also won four TAC titles, three outdoors, and in 1979 won the Pan American Games title and the World Cup. He set a world record of 12.93 in 1981. He joined the pro football San Francisco 49ers in 1982 but returned to track in 1986, achieving world rankings four more times from 1988 to 1991 before retiring. |
USA