An Olympian with Nowhere to Go

“Don’t ever let one race define you.”

If anyone has lived that quote personally, it would be Renaldo Nehemiah. This is his advice to the track and field clients he represents as a sports agent.

It’s advice that comes from his painful experience of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. It’s advice that comes because, due to the United States boycott of those games, Nehemiah never made it to the starting line that might have defined him.

Fortunately, Nehemiah had other races—races that define the University of Maryland alumnus as one of the greatest track and field athletes in the world. Quite possibly, Nehemiah is recognized as the best 110-meter hurdler, ever.

 While working toward his bachelor’s degree, he set the world record in that event three times between 1979 and 1981. He was ranked No. 1 in the world for four seasons.

His career race—likely the one that does define him—was a 12.93 mark at a meet in Zurich, Switzerland. It was the first time anyone had broken 13 seconds in the 110 hurdles. It was also a world record that stood for eight years.

Nehemiah won three NCAA national championships at Maryland. He captured the 60-yard hurdles indoors in 1978 and 1979, and the 110 hurdles outdoors in 1979.

Later that summer, Nehemiah won the IAAF World Cup (effectively the world championship at the time) in 13.39 seconds, beating Thomas Munkelt of East Germany (13.42) and Alejandro Casañas of Cuba (13.44).

It wasn’t his best race, but Nehemiah pulled out the victory.

“I was the odds-on favorite to win both the Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games upcoming in the summer of 1980,” said Nehemiah. “Based on the performances I was running and my consistency, one would assume I would win.

“But on any given day, you may not run that race, as happened in the ’79 World Cup where I didn’t run a particularly big, technically good race, and I had to out-lean him to win.”

Only months later at the start of 1980, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, news started coming out that the U.S. was considering a boycott of the Moscow Games. With Nehemiah running at his best, the news wasn’t good.

“I was in a fog, I mean I couldn’t wrap my head around it,” he recalled. “I felt the boycott was in opposition to going to war with the Russians. But the real frustration for me is that President Carter did something that was inconsistent, I felt. He allowed the Winter Olympians to participate (resulting that year in the U.S. “Miracle on Ice” victory over the Russians).

“So I was holding out hope. I’m like, ‘OK now we’re going to show them.’ We just beat them on ice in their sport. So now we’re going to go to the Summer Olympics. But for some reason, he just held his position on the summer games.

“I felt the Olympic movement at that time in winter-summer (being held in the same calendar year) was one movement. It isn’t like it is now. I felt it was such an emotional, grave injustice to dangle that carrot out there … It was very hard for me to comprehend what purpose that served, because the Russians did not leave Afghanistan and, obviously, we didn’t go to war.”

The decision became personal for athletes from the 65 nations that participated in the boycott.

“There were so many athletes that were harmed by that and some whose careers were over,” said Nehemiah. “That may have been that one and only or their last Olympics.

 “I felt for a lot of people. I knew I was young enough (at 21). I knew physically I had another opportunity. I’m a team player. I knew a lot of my teammates who were older, and that was the end for all of them…

“I hadn’t even scratched the surface of my career yet. I had just really found my stride. It was painful. And I was angry. I mean, I was really angry.”

The U.S. made the decision to go ahead with its own Olympic Trials in late June of 1980. It was still important to select the athletes who would represent Team USA.

Nehemiah comfortably won that race, timed in 13.26. Dedy Cooper (13.39) and Tonie Campbell (13.44) shared the podium with him.

“Especially for me, every kid’s dream is to represent their country,” said Nehemiah. “I couldn’t do that unless I went to the Olympic Trials.

“I was still holding out hope, a glimmer of it, that there’s a chance President Carter in the final hour could change his mind. If he were to change his mind and I’m not prepared or I’m not on the team, it’s a moot point.

“I didn’t know if there would ever be another Olympic Games for me, because you never know. This was my utopia. This was the most important thing for me, to represent my country.

“I was the favorite to win the Olympic Trials. That was less important to me as it was to be one of the three on the team just to get to Moscow. It was bittersweet because I ended up handily winning the Olympic Trials. So I was a representative and I was now an official Olympian. The bitter part, obviously, is that President Carter didn’t reverse his position on the boycott.

“And so I was an Olympian with nowhere to go.”

Nehemiah won the U.S. Trials in 13.26 seconds, and he already had proven he could beat the athletes who ended up with medals in Moscow. Munkelt finished first in13.39, with Casañas second in 13.40 and Aleksandr Puchkov of the Soviet Union third in 13.44.

Nehemiah won the U.S. Trials in 13.26 seconds, and he already had proven he could beat the athletes who ended up with medals in Moscow. Munkelt was first in 13.39, with Casañas second in 13.40 and Aleksandr Puchkov of the Soviet Union third in 13.44.

“It probably took me 20-plus years to even talk about it,” Nehemiah said. “It always has been, and still is for most athletes, such a defining moment… Clearly, in track and field, the Olympic Games define your career.

“There were so many times, even still to this day, I have to correct people who incorrectly introduce me as an Olympic champion. I’m flattered because I had such success. They just assume I had to win the Olympic Games.

“So, here I am, an Olympian. I’ve never had the privilege of walking into an Olympic Stadium as an Olympian. Yet I am an Olympian.”

He has spent the years after turning the pain into wisdom.

“I guess, in hindsight and as I’ve evolved, I recognized this so importantly because it’s a message I tell all my clients,” he said. “Don’t ever let one race define you.

“You’re more than one race, and if you were to wrap all your self-esteem and everything into that one race, I’d probably be disappointed in you because you’d be limiting yourself. I always say that I’m living proof of that because I didn’t run in the Olympic Games.

“Yet I’m more well-known than Roger Kingdom, who is a two-time Olympic gold medalist (1984 & 1988).”

Following his 12.93 world-record victory in August 1981, Nehemiah’s path went a different way. He competed in ABC’s Superstars competition, pitting athletes from different sports in a multi-discipline competition.

He recalls being befriended by NFL star wide receivers Dwight Clark and Cris Collinsworth, who were obviously impressed at his speed.

“They kept saying, (San Francisco 49ers head coach) Bill Walsh would love a guy like you,” he said. “Why are you wasting your time as an amateur?”

Then the phone rang.

“The very next morning, the gentleman on the end of the phone claimed to be Bill Walsh.

“Yeah, I hung up on him…

“Then, about an hour later, he called back and said, ‘Renaldo, seriously, this is Bill Walsh.’ I said, ‘Well, if you’re Bill Walsh, call my agent. And I hung up on him again.”

Four hours later, Nehemiah’s agent called with news that it really was Bill Walsh, and Nehemiah signed as a free agent to be a wide receiver with the 49ers. He played three seasons with San Francisco and was a member of the Super Bowl champions in 1984.

“I’ve had so many years to reflect, so I can honestly say today, looking back, my opting to play professional football and give up track was a temper tantrum,” he said. “It was total disappointment in the system that had failed me.

“Immediately upon the 1980 boycott, within months the Eastern Bloc countries said they were going to boycott the Los Angeles Olympic Games. So here I am looking at a forecast of uncertainty as to what 1984 would even look like. And I’m just still reeling in the 1980 issue.”

He appreciated that Walsh signed him to a four-year contract, since his track career was essentially over. Complicating matters at the time was a draconian limit on amateurism. After being paid to play professional sports, Nehemiah’s amateur status was eliminated, ending his ability to chase Olympic gold.

Over the next few years, Nehemiah fought in court to have the amateurism limits changed, which didn’t help him personally, but helped others in the future.

“I had a decent amount of 49er revenues to fight that battle,” he said. “Those are things, when I sit here today and in years past, I look back and in spite of me maybe not reaping the benefits in my sport, other people can reap the benefit as a result of my efforts to prove a point.

“I know in my heart that I did some good for a lot of other people who don’t have to go through the judicial system like I did.”

Even though his Olympic memories may not be positive, Nehemiah remains proud of his choice to attend Maryland. He remembers head coach Lefty Driesell asking him to escort 7-foot-4 basketball player Ralph Sampson on a recruiting trip.

“For a guy who was a non-revenue guy—a track guy—everyone on the campus really made me feel special during that time,” Nehemiah said. “Obviously I was doing some special things, but still, they didn’t look at me as if—that’s a track guy.

“They were introducing me before games and people were losing their minds. Those were some special times for me and for the athletic program in general, just showing the mutual respect both ways they had for me and that I had.

“I’m still an avid Terrapin Club member today and go to as many events as I can. Being a student-athlete at Maryland was a wonderful experience, and it was the best and only place I could have gone to.”

Renaldo Nehemiah was not the only University of Maryland athlete affected by the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics. These three Athletic Hall of Famers also missed their chance to compete in the 1980 Olympic Games.

BUCK WILLIAMS

Williams earned All-America status as a junior at Maryland. He averaged 13.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per game in his three seasons, and his career rebounding average is second only to Len Elmore in the Terps record book. He was the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year in 1979 and an All-ACC selection as a sophomore and junior.

As with many other sports leading up to 1980, USA Basketball still held an Olympic Trials camp and Williams was selected. He made the team alongside notable players like Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman and Isiah Thomas.

The U.S. team in 1980 was acknowledged as one of the youngest in the history of Olympic Basketball. Team USA played a series of five exhibition games against NBA All-Star Teams, known as the “Gold Medal Series.” The 1980 team went 4-1 against the pros and won another exhibition game against the 1976 U.S. team that had won the gold medal in Montreal.

Williams’ outstanding college career at Maryland ended after three seasons, as he declared for the NBA Draft in 1981. The decision was a good one, as he was the third overall pick in the draft, selected by the New Jersey Nets. Williams played 17 seasons in the NBA for the Nets, Portland Trail Blazers and New York Knicks. The NBA Rookie of the Year in 1982, he was a three-time NBA All-Star and a four-time pick on the NBA All-Defensive Team.

His No. 52 jersey hangs proudly both in the Barclays Center (home of the Nets) and Maryland’s XFINITY Center.

Williams was inducted into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

TARA HEISS

Heiss remains one of the most recognizable names from the rich history of women’s basketball at Maryland.

She played for the Terrapins from 1975 to 1978, leading the team in scoring and assists as both a junior and senior. She still ranks third on the career assists list and was the first Terrapin women’s player to post 1,000 career points.

In her senior season, Maryland won the first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and Heiss was the MVP. Maryland finished 27-4 that year, finished fourth in the final national poll and reached the AIAW national championship game against UCLA.

No stranger to international competition for Team USA, Heiss played in the World University Games and the World Championship in 1979, earning Most Popular Player status at that event.

Team USA still participated in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, going 6-1 to win that event.

Heiss was inducted into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998, a member of the same induction class as Nehemiah. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Maryland teammate Kris Kirchner was also a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team. She transferred to Rutgers for her senior season.

PAULA GIRVEN

Girven competed in women’s high jump in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, reaching the final round and placing 18th. She finished second at the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials, earning a return spot on Team USA.

One of the first Black female student-
athletes to receive a scholarship at Maryland, Girven was a two-time All-American and won the national championship in the high jump both indoors and outdoors in 1976.

Her mark of 6 feet, 2 inches in the high jump has stood as the Maryland school record for 41 years. Girven is one of five Terrapins to have cleared 6 feet indoors. Girven also still holds Maryland’s school record indoors in the 55-meter hurdles.

Girven, who was inducted into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999, passed away in 2020 after a battle with cancer.

Doug Dull (Maryland ’81) was the Associate A.D. for Communications at Maryland from 2003-2012. He is a past president of the College Sports Information Directors of America and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2016. Dull spent nearly 30 years in college athletics and received CoSIDA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.