Unlikely Track Star Imparts His Work Ethic and Inspiring Message in New England

The Boston suburb of Dorchester held its inaugural Titus Foundation Boston Unsung Awards on May 30th at the Sorrel & Lime Function Hall, highlighting individuals in the community who have served for decades outside the public eye, yet continue to make a huge impact. The event was crafted by a local high school graduate, Winslow Sargent, and former UMass Boston basketball coach Charlie Titus. The pair created the Titus Foundation set to honor youth mentors, coaches, and referees who have given so much.

“It’s important that we take time to honor those who poured so much into us, and now that we’re older, we need to make sure they smell their flowers while they can,” said Sargent. “We hope to have more people support this by nominating other outstanding coaches, referees, and unsung heroes. So many of them spend so much time giving back and go unrecognized. They do it for the passion, so this is just a thank you for taking time to pour into our community, especially when we were at vulnerable stages of our youth.”

Event organizers invited longtime Titus Foundation supporter and legendary track and field athlete Edwin Moses, widely regarded as one of the greatest 400-meter hurdlers in history. A physics and industrial engineering major at Morehouse College, Moses burst onto the scene at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, winning gold and setting a world record (47.64 seconds). He dominated the event for a decade, winning 122 consecutive races from 1977 to 1987 and lowering the world record to 47.02.

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“I was the nerd,” he said, noting that he was the smallest one on the track team and rarely did much of note. “I was the last person, the very last, anyone would have thought would find success in track and field,” he told the crowd. “I was 5-7 and 117 pounds as a junior in high school…I was the littlest guy who was always tenacious…No one would have ever expected me to go to the Olympics.”

Moses claimed a second Olympic gold in Los Angeles in 1984, a bronze in Seoul in 1988, two World Championships (1983, 1987), and multiple World Cup titles. The U.S. boycott cost him a likely third gold in 1980.

Beyond athletics, Moses earned an MBA, pioneered the global anti-doping movement as chairman emeritus of USADA and a WADA leader, and served as inaugural chairman of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

His closing remarks harked the importance of hard work and being apt to excel with every opportunity you receive.

“These days you really have to look for the people who are hungry and not entitled,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who your parents are if you’re not hungry and not willing to compete, and that has made it considerably harder for us to assist.”

“That’s why I was good on the track because I remembered where I came from. I was the worst, but I was willing to work. I was ‘DL and WB’ – which in the track world means ‘dead last and way back,’ but I was determined to get better.”

Moses remains a respected advocate for clean sport, education, and the use of athletics for social change.

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