Rod Milburn
Rod Milburn, born Rodney Milburn, Jr. on May 18, 1950, in Opelousas, Louisiana, was a prominent American hurdler known for his exceptional achievements in track and field during the 1970s. Growing up in a challenging environment marked by racial segregation and financial hardship, Milburn discovered his talent for hurdling at J. S. Clark High School, where he had a significant impact on the sport. He went on to run for Southern University, where he became the first athlete to win multiple collegiate championships in a single year, establishing a remarkable undefeated streak.
Milburn gained international recognition by winning a gold medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics, where he equaled the world record in the 110-meter hurdles. Throughout his career, he broke or matched world records five times and was celebrated as a leading figure in track and field. After retiring from competitive running, Milburn transitioned to coaching, guiding future athletes at Southern University. Tragically, his life was cut short in 1997 when he was discovered deceased at a paper plant. Rod Milburn's legacy endures through his remarkable contributions to athletics and his status as a pioneer in overcoming adversity in sports.
Rod Milburn
Athletic Coach
- Born: May 18, 1950
- Birthplace: Opelousas, Louisiana
- Died: November 11, 1997
- Place of death: Port Hudson, near Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Sport: Track and field (hurdles)
Early Life
Rodney Milburn, Jr., was born on May 18, 1950, in Opelousas, Louisiana, a farming town situated in the south central part of the “Bayou State.” Life was not easy for the Milburn family. When Rod was a young boy, his father died, and consequently the family faced difficult financial circumstances. Rod, like many African Americans in Louisiana, also faced racial segregation. Because the segregation laws were strictly enforced in Louisiana in the early 1960’s, Rod attended J. S. Clark High, an all-black high school in Opelousas, where Rod began to run track.
One day at practice, assistant track coach Eddie Gilbeau saw Rod hurdling over some old wooden hurdles and recommended him to head coach Claude Paxton. Coach Paxton quickly recognized Rod’s hurdling talent and convinced Rod that track could provide an excellent avenue beyond Opelousas and could be used as a vehicle to improve his life. With Paxton’s instruction and guidance, Rod was able to win the Louisiana state championships in the high hurdles in his junior year. In his senior year, Rod repeated as champion and ran the hurdles in 13.7 seconds, the fastest time for a high school athlete. Before leaving J. S. Clark High, Rod realized that he could become the greatest hurdler in the world.
The Road to Excellence
Rod’s hurdling accomplishments aroused interest from dozens of colleges around the United States. Rod decided to run at Southern University, a predominantly African American university in Baton Rouge, less than one hundred miles from his hometown.
Rod’s decision was based on several factors. Paxton, his high school coach and good friend, had decided to take a position as an assistant coach at Southern. The university also had an excellent track program and had already produced one of the best hurdlers in U.S. history, Willie Davenport, who won the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics and set an Olympic record at 13.3 seconds. Because Davenport was still at Southern, Rod would have the opportunity to train with a person considered the fastest in the world.
Rod proved he was ready for college competition. Although he was considered short for a high hurdler at 6 feet tall, Rod used his great technique and blazing speed to outrun his taller opponents. In 1970, his freshman year, Rod began to gain national attention. He twice ran the high hurdles in 13.5 seconds and once in a wind-aided 13.3 seconds, which tied Davenport’s Olympic record. Rod’s freshman year culminated with a fourth place finish at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Championships, Rod’s last defeat for more than a year. Davenport, who won the AAU Championship and had defeated Rod, proclaimed that one day Rod would be the best.
The Emerging Champion
In 1971, Rod was the best hurdler in the world. As a sophomore at Southern, Rod astonished the track world with a season that ranks among the greatest of any athlete. Undefeated in twenty-eight starts, Rod became the first track man in history to win the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) College Division, and the NCAA University Division all in one year. Rod also won the AAU, the meets against the Soviet Union and Africa, and the gold medal at the Pan-American Games.
Of his twenty-eight first-place finishes, two races were sensational. On June 4, Rod was timed in the high hurdles at 13.0 seconds, but the world record was disallowed because the race was wind-aided. Three weeks later, however, Rod broke the world record when he ran a nonwind-aided 13.0 seconds for 120 yards. For his exceptional season, Rod was named the 1971 world track athlete of the year by Track and Field News. Rod also won the James J. Corbett Award as Louisiana’s best amateur athlete.
The only track championship left for Rod to win was the Olympic gold. Rod said that as long as he remained physically and mentally fit, there was no one who could beat him. He vowed to win every meet in 1972, including the Olympic Games. In the summer of 1972, Rod attempted to qualify for the Olympic team. He was considered the favorite but hit two hurdles in the finals and barely qualified in third place. Nevertheless, he had made the Olympic team.
Continuing the Story
In its Olympic preview, Sports Illustrated wrote that, before Rod’s mishap at the Olympic trials, he was considered the favorite to win the gold at Munich. After barely qualifying, however, the sports magazine predicted that either Davenport or Thomas Hill, the two hurdlers who beat Rod at the trials, would finish ahead of him.
At Munich, however, the twenty-two-year-old Rod regained his form. He was the first man over the first hurdle and had a 2-meter lead at the sixth hurdle. He hit the finish line at 13.24 seconds, equaling the world record. After winning the gold medal, Rod continued to run for Southern University. In 1973, he ran another 13.0 seconds in the 120-yard hurdles and improved his 110-meter hurdle time to 13.1.
After graduation from Southern in 1973, Rod turned to professional track the following year and joined the International Track Association (ITA) circuit. He established another winning streak of thirty-one races.
When the ITA folded in 1976, Rod applied for reinstatement as an amateur. He was finally allowed to run as an amateur four years later, in 1980. At thirty years old, Rod made a brilliant comeback and was ranked sixth in the world with a time of 13.4 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles. Rod, however, failed in his attempt to make the U.S. Olympic team in 1980; the trials had been held before the United States decided to boycott the Moscow Games.
After this disappointment, Rod continued to race in the 110-meter high hurdles. He ran 13.59 seconds in 1981, 13.46 seconds in 1982, and 13.6 seconds in 1983 as a thirty-three-year-old hurdler. Following his retirement from competition in 1983, Rod served as the head track and field coach at his alma mater, Southern University, in 1987.
In 1997, Rod’s body was discovered in a freight car at the Georgia Pacific paper plant, where he had worked since 1988. It is believed that he was overcome by fumes from the freight car’s contents, liquid sodium chlorate, which he had been assigned to unload.
Summary
During the 1970’s Rod Milburn dominated the 110-meter hurdles event, winning twenty-eight consecutive races and setting or matching the world record five times. In 1992, he was inducted as an inaugural member into the Southwestern Conference Hall of Fame, and a year later, he was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Bibliography
Greenberg, Stan. Whitaker’s Olympic Almanack: An Encyclopaedia of the Olympic Games. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000.
Lawson, Gerald. World Record Breakers in Track and Field Athletics. Champaign, Ill.: Human Kinetics, 1997.
Wallechinsky, David, and Jaime Loucky. The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. London: Aurum Press, 2008.