Streak Had to End : Edwin Moses, Who Hadn’t Lost a Hurdles Race in Nearly 10 Years, Takes Defeat in Stride

Nine years, nine months and nine days after it began, Edwin Moses’ 107-race winning streak in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, ended June 4 in Madrid.

Moses, 31, ran a respectable 47.69 but, for the first time since Aug. 26, 1977, his time was not good enough. Danny Harris, 23, of Perris, Calif., and Iowa State, won in 47.56.

Moses’ wife, Myrella, was at their home in Newport Beach on the day of the race, but she said she could feel the defeat coming.

“There was something else hovering over the whole race,” said Myrella, who admitted she is superstitious.

“When I heard that nine-nine-nine business, I was thinking, ‘There is some other spirit involved here.’ You know what his horoscope said that day?

“It said, ‘This is not a day to pursue your desires. The planets are not favorable now.’ In other words, don’t do it.

“I was going to try to get in touch with him. But there’s no way I could have done so. What were they going to say? Moses is not running because his wife told him not to after reading his horoscope?”

As Myrella told of her premonition, Moses made it obvious with a bored look that the stars concern him somewhat less than do his rivals, Harris and Andre Phillips, ranked No. 1 in the world the last two years.

Phillips will not compete this week at the USA-Mobil national track and field meet in San Jose because of a stress fracture, but Harris will be there, perhaps as the favorite, and so will Moses. The first heat in the hurdles is scheduled for Thursday, the semifinals Friday and the final Saturday.

Moses and his wife spoke recently about the streak, the loss and hurdles to come.

Question--How disappointed are you now that the streak has ended?

Moses--I think everyone expects me to be more disappointed than I am. Most people don’t know what to say because they think I’m very disappointed. But it’s just one of those things that’s happened.

The race itself wasn’t that disappointing because I ran a good race for it being this early in the year. So I’m satisfied with that.

Q--Did you suspect that someone eventually would beat you?

A--Eventually. Even I didn’t want to believe that was going to be the case, though. Like I’ve said before, the only way I figured to lose is to run a bad race on a day when someone else was running very, very well. That’s what happened, and it still was close. Very, very close.

Q--You appeared to be gaining on Harris until you hit the 10th, and last, hurdle. Would you have won if you hadn’t hit the hurdle?

A--I think I had a chance. I was probably two meters behind at the seventh hurdle. I made all that up. I felt I was in a good position before the ninth hurdle. The key was going over the 10th hurdle smoothly.

Q--Did you know when the race ended that you had lost?

A--(Moses laughs). I knew before it was over.

Q--According to eyewitness accounts, the crowd gave you a standing ovation after the race while practically ignoring Harris. Did you have the same impression?

A--It was like at the bullfights. What do they call those guys, toreadors ?

Myrella-- Toreros.

Moses--That’s what they were saying, isn’t it? I didn’t know what they were saying. They were saying, “Ole! Ole!”

Myrella--No, “ El rey ! El rey .” El rey means the king.

Q--Myrella, what was your reaction when Edwin lost?

Myrella--I was home all by myself, sitting anxiously by the phone when Edwin called. He was really cheerful on the phone. I said, “How’d you do?” He said, “Oh, I lost.” I said, “Stop kidding around.” He said, “No, I came in second.”

I started crying. He said: “Hey, don’t cry. It’s no big deal.” He was really cheerful. I’m glad I wasn’t there. That was my biggest fear all these years. Now I’m relaxed. Now I can go to the races and have fun and enjoy them. Everything’s fine.

Q--Edwin, can you go to the races now and enjoy them?

Moses--I always did.

Myrella-- Really?

Moses--It’s still going to be about the same. I’m still going in with the same kind of attitude.

Q--Then the fact that the streak is over doesn’t relieve the pressure?

Moses--Well, it does. I don’t have to go in with everyone talking about the streak. That’s one thing. But I still have to go in with the same type of motivation, the same desire to run and win. That always stays the same, that aspect of it. But the external aspect of it, that type of pressure is reduced. That intense pressure is not there anymore.

Maybe it will shift the pressure elsewhere. Now we’ll see how someone else can deal with it.

Q--It has been suggested that, in order to protect the streak, you avoided Harris and Andre Phillips in recent years but, now that there is no streak, you will run against them more often. How do you respond to that?

A--I’ll run the same type of schedule I have for the last 10 years. Regardless of what those people say. This will make it more interesting, to say the least. I’ve come close many times, some of those times in races when I ran virtually solo or when someone else was running 48.8. So . . .

Q--I understand that one of the first persons to approach you in Madrid after the loss was Carl Lewis. What did he say?

A--Joe Douglas (Lewis’ manager) gave me a message. (Moses asked Myrella to repeat it.)

Myrella--”Thank God he’s free now. The monkey’s off his back. He can go on to break world records and think of bigger and better things.”

I think it was a really nice gesture. He, of all people, knows what it’s like to be so great and to have a couple of things thrown in his path, all the antagonism from everybody. I was really impressed.

Q--When you reflect on the streak now, are you even a little surprised it lasted so long?

Moses--It’s unbelievable for one person to be able to win for 10 years. When I first started, I never thought that would be the case. It was just something that happened, and I was lucky enough to be able to do it.

Myrella--The good thing that came of it is that because of the loss, the correct light was shined on the streak. Everyone realizes what an amazing thing it was.

Moses--It put the whole thing in perspective.

Myrella--Like the guy (in Sports Illustrated) said, it was three “Rocky” movies ago when he lost the last time. Danny Harris said he was in the sixth grade when the streak began. It’s just so amazing, and people realize it now.