Tar Heel Profile
By Herb While
Time Trials
I)r. LeRoy Walker’s race to the top of the l .S. Olympic
Committee has come with plenty of hurdles.
“You think I liked having to drive 200
miles without being able to 't<>|> with my
athletes because no one wanted to feed
11s when we were going South? I got the
same treatment in Philadelphia, in the
'City of Brotherly Love.’" Walker says.
“You have to recognize this (was) their
way of maintaining their superiority. We'll
make ours by superior performance, and
eventually the people are going to be
enlightened enough to recognize that
we’re needed in this situation."
The Olympic Dream is more
than an objective for Dr.
leRoy Walker. It's a way of
life, something that has
burned in him for nearly 50 years.
rhe Durham resident is president
of the United States Olympic Com¬
mittee (I'SOC). this country's most
powerful position in amateur sports.
Walker got to the top the old-fash¬
ioned way, working his way through
the ranks. I le started as track coach at
North Carolina Central University in
Durham, where he produced Olympic
champions; then went on to Ik* a high¬
ly-sought national coach for several
foreign nations; and topped it off with
stints with national athletic organiza¬
tions. His |K*rsonal race hasn't been
one of speed, however. At 75. Walker
is a study in strength and endurance.
Tire track to success always seemed
to have hurdles in front of Walker, as
it did for many of his generation. After
moving to Harlem at age 9 after the
death of his father, he developed a
determination and drive to succeed dur¬
ing the Great Depression. Following the
advice and urging of his greatest Ians —
his mother. Mary, and brother. Joe. —
Walker set out to make his mark on the
world. He went on to Benedict ( College in
Columbia, South Carolina, where he let¬
tered in football, basketball and track.
Although none of his brothers and sisters
went to college, everyone in the family
worked to ensure that their little brother
would succeed. They sacrificed so that the
youngest Walker would have a chance to
measure up. I le did. landing his first job
as football, basketball and track coach at
N.C. Central.
"I was the last of lit kids," he says. "We
were a close-knit family."
Walker recalls what coaching was like
before laws ended racial segregation. He
Л1
75. Durham's l)r. URoy Wallur is a study in
strength and perseverance.
thinks back to the time when Southern
whites didn't want his teams to dress in
their schools' locker rooms. Of course*,
that was if Central was even invited to a
top track meet. It wasn't always enough to
Ik* good.
“It was years before they would let my
team run in the combined Carolina AAl
(Amateur Athletic Union) champi¬
onships." Walker says. "I simply said. ‘I
don't want to dress in your dressing
room.’ Then people would lur n out from
all over — black and white — just to see
us run."
Not only was bigotry a problem down
south, it was everywhere Walker's Eagles
traveled. Even in the supposedly enlight¬
ened North they were denied basic
accommodations and respect solely on
the basis of their color.
With Walker’s guidance, the
Eagles became a national power,
producing 1 1 Olympic medalists de¬
spite having marginal facilities at the
school. Walker also moved through
the ninks of the international ath¬
letic community, first as coach of the
national track and field teams from
Israel. Ethiopia. Trinidad-Tobago.
Jamaica and Kenya. In 1976. he
coached the U.S. track team at the
Montreal < Mympics. After leaving the
coaching ranks. Walker moved on to
become chancellor at N.C. Central,
then served as an officer at several
athletic organizations, including Hie
Athletics Congress (TAC. the* gov¬
erning body for l ’.S. track and field),
the AAU and the National Associa¬
tion of Intercollegiate Athletics
(NAIA). With the USC )( i. Walker sat
on the board of directors and
chaired several committees before
being elected treasurer in 1989. Two
years ago, he was named president,
the first African-American to hold
the office since it was formed in 1900.
After engineering a USOC budget surplus
into the 1 996 Atlanta Games, his job today
is to help U.S. athletes in their prepara¬
tion for international competition.
“As treasurer, all I had to do was just
w ot iv about the money, which was a $300
million budget," Walkei says. “Our major
client is the athlete. Eighty-five percent of
all our resources go into direct stipends
or indirect training centers and the
Olympic ( lames or Pail- American ( lames.
World Cups or World Championships."
Aside from the obvious duties. Walker
has worked tirelessly for athletes around
the world. I le led the fight to allow Bosni¬
an athletes to train in the United States
after the former Yugoslavian republic was
ravaged by war. He also led efforts to keep
Congress from insisting on a l ’.S. boycott
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t he State/July IW4
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