The greatest Olympic athlete from every U.S. state

Ohio: Edwin Moses

Sport: Track and Field

Olympucs: Montreal 1976, Los Angeles 1984, and Seoul 1988

Perhaps one of the more unique careers in Olympic history belongs to Edwin Moses. When he attended college, he was accepted into Morehouse College in Atlanta on an academic scholarship. Moses did participate on the track and field team while in college but it wasn’t his main focus. He was busy majoring in physics and industrial engineering. In fact, his first international competition didn’t come until the 1976 Olympic Games.

Before March of 1976, Moses had virtually no experience in the 400-meter hurdle event. By the Olympic Games in the end of July, Moses was setting a world record in the event and he won the event by eight meters, which was the largest margin of victory in the history of the event. The big difference between Moses and his competitors was Moses kept a very consistent stride through the entire event. He made sure to take exactly 13 steps between each hurdle and would pull away as the event wore on. Unfortunately for Moses, the United States did not participate in the 1980 summer games in Moscow. That did not stop him from dominating the 400-meter event wherever he went. In a 10 year span, Moses won an astounding 122 consecutive races in a myriad of competitions. At the age of 33, Moses won his final medal in Seoul when he took home the bronze medal. His post-Olympic career saw Moses become active against performance-enhancing drugs. He was also one of the biggest proponents of athletes maintaining their eligibility for the Olympics while receiving endorsements or other payments. In 1994, Moses was elected into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Honorable Mention: Scott Hamilton, figure skating in Lake Placid 1980 and Sarajevo 1984