© Stade de France ®
Macary, Zublena et Regembal
Costantini - Architects
ADAGP - Paris - 2002
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COMPETITION  RETRO |
 Tokyo 1991 – FOSTER: A TREBLE, A DELIVERANCE
Paris 2003 Saint-Denis
Starved of the Olympic title he had chased throughout his long and successful career, Greg Foster made the World Championships his happy hunting ground. He would go down in athletics’ history at the ripe old age of 33 when he clinched a world title treble.
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| Vandystadt |
Foster is a member of that unfortunate group of athletes who seem to be struck down by some sort of curse as soon as the Olympic games get underway. Whereas Sergueï Bubka managed to attain Olympic gold in 1988 before chasing desperately after a second title, Greg Foster never experienced this joy. In this sense, the World Championships became a stage where the hurdler from Chicago could exorcise his demons and make a mark on his era by securing three world crowns.
Two titles, but still a sense of unfinished business
The first came his way at Helsinki in 1983. From the moment his rival Reynaldo Nehemiah allowed the lure of the dollar to tempt him from track to American football field, Greg Foster became lord of the 110m hurdles, without really having to push his talent to the limits. Despite a big fright at the eighth hurdle, he comfortably became the first world champion in the discipline, but this comfort zone ultimately proved to be his undoing, when at Los Angeles, he was surprised by Roger Kingdom, who deprived him of Olympic gold. Foster wreaked his revenge in Rome in 1987, when he clinched a second consecutive world title, but this success left him with a feeling of unfinished business, as Kingdom was forced to withdraw on account of a calf strain.
Eight years after Helsinki…
At Seoul, however, the roles were reversed: Foster, who failed to qualify after breaking his forearm, was forced to sit in the stands as Kingdom picked up first his Olympic double, then his world record on 16 August 1989 in Zurich (12’’91). Boiling with frustration, the former 110m hurdles and 200m university champion with UCLA refused to give up the ghost, making the defence of his world title a matter of honour.
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| Greg Foster and Ted Jarrett, Tokyo Vandystadt |
Roger Kingdom had, by this point, put away his running shoes, while Tony Dees, credited with the best time of 1991, failed to get through the minefield of the American qualifiers. So when the young prodigy Colin Jackson fell victim to injury during the warm-up before the quarterfinals of the World Championships, Greg Foster needed no second invitation. After an intense battle finally settled by a photo finish, Jack Pierce was beaten by just two thousandths of a second. Hence, at the ripe old age of 33, Foster, along with Carl Lewis, becomes the first athlete to achieve the treble, a feat which secured him his long-coveted place in athletics legend.
While this accession might have provided Greg Foster with the opportunity to make a triumphant exit, the American instead dug in his heels, spurred on by his lingering Olympic dream. In 1992, however, it was shattered by his fourth place in the US qualifiers and subsequent elimination.
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