While He’s Been Away, Nehemiah Says, No One Has Done It (Hurdles) Better

It has been more than four years since Renaldo Nehemiah quit hurdling to play professional football, but as far as he is concerned, he is still No. 1.

“No one has approached my record of 12.93 (in the 110-meter high hurdles),” he said. “In fact, if you look at the records closely, you will find out that hurdlers have gone backward since I quit. Greg Foster ran 13.03 behind me the day I set the record in 1981. He’s never bettered that. Last year the best he did was 13.25 . . . and he was considered the best in the world.”

Nehemiah, 27, who also claims the world 60-meter indoor record of 6.82, will meet Foster and Olympic gold medalist Roger Kingdom in the 28th Sunkist Invitational indoor meet Jan. 16 at the Sports Arena. It will be Nehemiah’s first meeting with Foster since 1982 and his first ever with Kingdom.

“I’ve dominated Foster so much that statistically I don’t figure him as real competition. Kingdom beat Foster in the Olympics, but his times don’t approach mine. It’s going to be tough for them to beat me indoors because that’s my favorite element. I love being close to the crowd, and the times are more legitimate because you don’t have mother nature to contend with.”

Nehemiah, who played three years with the 49ers as a wide receiver and has a Super Bowl ring to show for it, will actually be making his second comeback after leaving football. Last August, in Viareggio, Italy, he ran 13.48, beating NCAA champion Keith Talley of Alabama, but strained a tendon and has not raced since.

Nehemiah decided to quit football after a preseason back injury caused him to miss the entire 1985 season. Last July 16, the IAAF reinstated him as an amateur, and he returned to the hurdles.