Texas has been well-represented in track and field at the Tokyo Olympics, but that’s come to be expected.
In fact, some of the greatest athletes to compete at the Games hail from the Lone Star State. One hometown legend is Leroy Burrell, who is now coaching the next generation of elite athletes at the University of Houston.
Burrell’s Olympic resume includes a gold medal at the 1992 Games in Barcelona. He, along with Carl Lewis, Mike Marsh and Dennis Mitchell, set a world record with a time of 37.40 in the 4x100-meter relay.
The year before that, Burrell set a world record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 9.90. That was broken by Lewis later in 1991, when Lewis ran it in 9.86. In July 1994, Burrell reclaimed the spot as “The World’s Fastest Human” when he ran the 100 meters with a time of 9.85 seconds.
In 2000, Burrell was inducted into UH’s Hall of Honor. He has been a head coach for the university for more than two decades. He and Lewis remain colleagues and friends.
In 2016, KPRC 2 had the honor of sitting down with both legends. Here is an excerpt of the Olympians interviewing each other in our studio:
You can find much more information on hometown legend Leroy Burrell on the University of Houston website.