Is Calvin SMITH still in touch with track ?

[Guest]

Just a friendly word about Calvin SMITH whose
sensational velocicty impressed most of the
people who had the priviledge to watch him run in
European meetings through the whole eighties
to the early nineties.
I was among them.
Most of his admirers have never had any news
about him since then.
Is he fine?

[Guest]

Re: Is Calvin SMITH still in touch with track ?

Calvin Smith is my favorite sprinter of all time...
He was slight 5'9'' about 140-145 lbs, great on relays..probably one of the best (I think THE best) third leg runner of all time. Class act as far as I could tell. Two time world Champ in the 200 and gold medalist in 1984 on the relay. Always overshadowed by Lewis but could hold his own against Lewis. I saw him run at the 1985 USA indoor meet at Madison Square Garden on the Bud Light track team relay.

Bud Greenspan did a great piece on him in 16 days of glory. The theme was how Smith was denied a chance to mount the medal stage because he did not receive bronze until after Ben Johnson was disqualified. They did not choose to present the medals again to the medal winners...Lewis, Christie and Smith

THe segment ends with the Narrator saying
"Calvin Smith...always gave more to the sport than he got back"

[Guest]

Re: Is Calvin SMITH still in touch with track ?

>Just a friendly word about Calvin SMITH whose

>sensational velocicty impressed most of the

>people who had the priviledge to watch him run
>in
European meetings through the whole
>eighties
to the early nineties.
I was among
>them.
Most of his admirers have never had any
>news
about him since then.
Is he fine?>

Very nice guy. Coaching HS track in the Tampa Bay area last I heard.

[Guest]

Re: Is Calvin SMITH still in touch with track ?

I had an opportunity to watch Smith run in a meet at the University of Indiana during his Freshman year at Alabama in the winter of 1980, and it was obvious then that he was on his way to great things. He was then the number 2 man on his team behind James Mallard but his physical growth level was in my opinion, that of a 15 or 16 year old (That's why I paid close attention, because he looked like a 15 or 16 year old kid running against world-class competition and holding his own). He finished third in the 55 meter dash that day, 2nd in the 300 meter dash and he ran on the winning 4x400 relay (For the life of me I don't understand why he didn't run more 400's, because he looked good that day as a college freshman).

[gh]

Re: Is Calvin SMITH still in touch with track ?

ran 45.2 on second leg of Bama's NCAA runner-up team in '83.

[Guest]

Re: Is Calvin SMITH still in touch with track ?

Speaking of what happened to former stars, what has happened to Vickie Huber? She was the most promising U.S. middle distance runner after Mary Slaney, placing 6th in the Seoul 3000. She made a comeback in 1996 to make the Olympic team and then disappeared again.

[6 5.5hjsteve]

Re: Is Calvin SMITH still in touch with track ?

JLightnin,

It's Indiana University, not University of Indiana !

from a I.U. post-grad....

[Guest]

Re: Is Calvin SMITH still in touch with track ?

It's Indiana University, not University of Indiana !
My apologees, Indiana University put on a nice meet and I had a good time,