Charles Foster (hurdler)

Charles Wayne Foster (July 2, 1953 – March 31, 2019) was an American hurdler.^[1] He finished in fourth place, just off the podium at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal while setting his lifetime personal best of 13.41. In 1974 he was the number one ranked hurdler in the world, number 2 in 1975 and in the top ten from 1973 until 1979.^[2]

Charles Foster

Medal record
Men's Athletics
Representing  United States
Pan American Games
	1979 San Juan	110 m hurdles
IAAF World Cup
	1977 Düsseldorf	110 m hurdles
Summer Universiade
	1975 Rome	110 m hurdles

Career

Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Foster ran for North Carolina Central University, winning the 1974 NCAA Championships. A few weeks later that season, he won the National Championships. On tour, he also won the French national championship.^[3] The NCAA victory qualified him for the World University Games the following year, where he won the Gold Medal. He was able to win the National Championship again in 1977 in a tie with UCLA's James Owens,^[4] making him the U.S. representative at the 1977 IAAF World Cup, where he won a bronze medal. He picked up an additional bronze medal in international competition at the 1979 Pan American Games. He also picked up a pair of National Indoor championships in 1975 and 1978.^[5]

Foster's career began at Gaffney High School in Gaffney, South Carolina, where he was state champion and the 1971 Junior National Champion in the 120 yard high hurdles.^[6]

After his athletic career, he went into coaching at the University of North Carolina, Clemson University and Virginia Tech.^[7] He was involved with the organizing committee for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and with the 1999 Special Olympics.^[8]

References

1. "Former Olympian, NCCU track star passes away". Hbcugameday.com. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
2. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2014-07-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. "French Championships". Gbrathletics.com. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
4. "USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions : Men's 110 m Hurdles". Usatf.org. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
5. "USA Indoor Track & Field Champions : Men's 60 m Hurdles". Usatf.org. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
6. "Herald-Journal - Google News Archive Search". News.google.com. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
7. . Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
8. "Clemson Tigers - Clemson University Athletics". Clemson Tigers Official Athletics Site. Retrieved 1 April 2019.

External links

• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. . Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
• Foster instructing at the USTFCCCA Convention