The Final Hurdle : It Took a Tragic Accident to His Family to Start Greg Foster Back on the Right Track--the One That Leads to Seoul in 1988

As a young hurdler at UCLA, Greg Foster had critics who said he would not be the best as long as he had to compete against Renaldo Nehemiah. They were right, but that never prevented Foster from trying to beat Nehemiah.

After Nehemiah left track and field to play professional football, the same critics said Foster would not equal all of Nehemiah’s world records. Again, they have been right, but, again, Foster has not quit trying.

In 1984, Foster had an opportunity to do one thing that Nehemiah never did, which was to win an Olympic gold medal. But even though Foster was the favorite in the 110-meter high hurdles at the Coliseum, he finished second.

Several months before that race, in discussing Foster, another high hurdler, Tonie Campbell, said: “When he gets that gold medal around his neck, that could do it (exorcise the Nehemiah ghost). If he gets silver or bronze, he might be headed for self-destruction . . . I’m not going to say suicide, but that’s the last you’ll ever see of him.”

To the contrary, Foster traveled to Europe later that summer and beat Olympic gold-medalist Roger Kingdom twice in three races, then returned for the indoor season last winter and beat Kingdom twice more, including once at the national championships.

But in Foster’s life, there always seems to be another hurdle.

None of those he attempted to clear in the past prepared him for the one that was placed in front of him last June 29.

Foster and two of his brothers had just returned to his Culver City apartment from a nightclub early that morning, when another brother called and told them to come home immediately to Chicago. There had been an accident.

Upon arriving, they learned that four close family members, including their mother, had been involved in an automobile collision. Having just begun a trip to Mississippi to visit relatives, their car exploded into flames after it was rammed from behind by a hit-and-run driver and knocked into a freeway retaining wall.

Their aunt, Arlee Charles, 48; her daughter Crystal, 14; and a family friend, Polly Hurns, 43, died that night in burn wards of Chicago-area hospitals. Foster’s 5-year-old nephew, Greg, who was named for him, died three weeks later. Foster’s mother, Izola, died on July 25, two days before her 51st birthday.

In the six months since, Foster, 27, has developed a new perspective, not only on life but also on his future as a hurdler.

Before the accident, he worried that he was beginning to lose his enthusiasm for chasing Nehemiah’s records. Not now.

Before the accident, he wondered whether he still would be competing in 1988, the year of the Seoul Olympics. Not now.

After being away from the track for five months while recovering from a hamstring injury and, then, from his mother’s death, he returned to the European Grand Prix circuit last August and won four times in six races.

His 1986 indoor season begins Friday night at the Sports Arena in the Sunkist Invitational, and, while he originally planned to rest during the upcoming outdoor season, he said Tuesday he will not take another break until after the 1988 Olympics, if then.

During a press conference at UCLA’s Drake Stadium, Sunkist promoter Al Franken, in his introduction of Foster, called him “upbeat.” That is not an adjective usually associated with Foster, who, in the past, often seemed to be on edge. If he was not angry at one or more of his competitors, one or more of them was angry at him.

But he said Tuesday that he no longer will be knocked off stride by the mind games, that he instead intends to concentrate on the task before him, which is regaining his No. 1 world ranking in the 110-meter hurdles. He said the accident brought his life into focus.

“Mostly because of the accident, I feel like a new person, like I have a new life,” he said. “I don’t feel tired. I don’t feel old. I feel more like 22 instead of 27. For the first time in many years, I’m looking forward to running again.

“The accident was a big part of my life. I thought nothing like that would ever happen to me. But it did, and it changed my life drastically.”

How so, someone asked.

“For one thing, I realized that I won’t be here forever,” he said. “There’s only so much time to do the things I want to do. Had it not been for the accident, I think I would have given up a lot easier. It would have been easy to quit. Now, I feel like I’ll never quit.

“My mother is the biggest influence. I know she would have wanted me to be here, continuing to run, and to put what has happened behind me.

“She wanted to see me win a gold medal, which I didn’t do. But I’m out here now, looking ahead to 1988, because I know she would have wanted me to.”

Foster said his immediate goals are to break Nehemiah’s records at 50 and 60 yards indoors and 110 meters outdoors. Last January, at the Bally Invitational in Chicago, Foster broke Nehemiah’s record at 50 meters. It was the last time Foster’s mother saw him run.

Even before the accident, Foster talked a great deal about his mother’s interest in his career. In an interview before the 1984 Olympics, Foster said his mother and his aunt, Arlee, were “my biggest fans.” Later, after finishing second in the Olympics, Foster said his family would not allow him to be disappointed.

“My son (3 years old) went to school the next day bragging that his dad won the silver medal,” Foster said last winter. “And my mom was right there after the race smiling real big.”

Asked Tuesday about his mother’s influence on him, Foster said: “The biggest thing she instilled in me was to be myself. She taught me the difference between right and wrong and not to hurt anyone, which I have tried to teach my son. She also encouraged me to do things to the best of my ability. Up to this point, I haven’t done that.”

That is about to change, he said. That does not necessarily mean he never will lose again. He said the accident taught him that winning is not the most important test.

“The loss of a race will never again be as detrimental to me as it has been,” he said. “If I lose, I lose. If I win, I win. The important thing is that I do my best. If I do that, the records will come.

“But even if I never set another record, I know I’ll have the support of my family. If my family is happy, I’m happy.”