" I Am No. 1!"

Hurdling all obstacles

Week after week, they tumbled in startling succession. The lean and limber 19-year-old broke the world indoor records for the high hurdles five times, at distances between 50 yds. and 60 meters. His assault on the record book paused at the Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden when he could not resist proudly lifting his index finger at the tape. That gesture of triumph may have cost him another world record--he finished the 60 yds. in 6.89 sec., just .01 off his best time--but Renaldo Nehemiah has no regrets: "Up to this point, there were still a few doubts about my dominance. But now I know. I am No. 1!"

Nehemiah is still only a sophomore at the University of Maryland. "He's practically a baby, and he's already run these miraculous times," marvels Villanova's Coach Jim ("Jumbo") Elliott, one of the leading coaches in the sport. Last Friday night the youngster further embellished his indoor record this year by winning the national Amateur Athletic Union Championship at 60 yds.

Fleet of knee as an infant, Nehemiah was nicknamed "Skeets" by his father before he could walk. He grew into a splendid all-around athlete, but he seemed born to hurdle. He has the ideal build (6 ft. 1 in., 170 Ibs.), a sprinter's speed, exquisite balance and lightning reflexes. "But the mental aspect is what sets him above the rest," says Frank Costello, the Maryland track coach. "He has unbelievable maturity for his age. He's the ultimate competitor, and that's something you can't teach."

Jumbo Elliott calls Nehemiah the smoothest hurdler he has ever seen and, indeed, Nehemiah visualizes his event as a nearly unimpeded run down a straightaway. "I try to run right through the hurdle, as though it's not even there," he says. "A lot of hurdlers, you can see the jump when they run. With me, it's more or less running, then an exaggerated stride for the hurdle."

When the outdoor track season begins in late March, most experts believe that Nehemiah is likely to break the world record of 13.21 sec. for the 110-yd. hurdles now held by Cuba's Alejandro Casanas. "Within the next year or two," predicts Bob Hersh, men's records chairman for the Amateur Athletic Union, "he's going to establish himself as the greatest high hurdler who ever lived." Coaches like Elliott and San Diego State's Dick Hill think Nehemiah will take the record below 13 sec., a feat that would be as remarkable as breaking 9 flat in the 100-yd. dash.

But in hurdling, as in other track events, ultimate success is measured by Olympic gold, not by automatic timers. In Moscow, Nehemiah will have to contend with the world's best under extraordinary pressure. He thinks he'll be ready: "The only thing that will hurt me will be an injury." Very much his own man at 19, Nehemiah is frank enough to say that he likes the adulation and attention that have distracted so many young athletes on the way to the Olympics. Says the finest hurdler in the world: "I'm going to take advantage of it while I have it, because it's going to hurt the day it leaves."

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