UK’s Sky Sports Films Edwin Moses with Oglethorpe Track Athletes

UK’s Sky Sports Films Edwin Moses with Oglethorpe Track Athletes

(Story courtesy of the Oglethorpe University website)

ATLANTA, Ga. - With film cameras rolling and two-time Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses doling out sage advice, the Oglethorpe University men's and women's track and field teams enjoyed a rather unusual practice last Thursday afternoon. That's because Sky Sports, the largest sports broadcaster in the United Kingdom, was in Atlanta to capture some pre-Olympic coverage for the upcoming 2012 London Games, and Oglethorpe loaned their track and athletes to the project.

Moses, who first gained fame at the 1976 Montreal Games where he won gold by setting a world record in the 400 meter hurdles, lives nearby in the Brookhaven area and suggested Oglethorpe to Sky Sports as the locale for the filming. Sky Sports has tabbed Moses to be an in-studio analyst for the upcoming London Games and wanted to capture footage of him in the same city that hosted the 1996 Olympic Games.

After shooting footage of the Oglethorpe entrance and academic quadrangle, the Sky Sports crew descended on the track where members of the Stormy Petrel men's and women's track teams greeted Moses. Moses took time addressing the team about the finer points of his career in track and field before giving Oglethorpe 400 meter hurdler Katy Galli some one-on-one instruction on how to best clear hurdles and excel at the event. The Sky Sports team then filmed Galli, who wore a tiny camera affixed to her head, as she ran the 400 meter hurdles while Moses made commentary on specific portions of the race.

"It was an honor to have a track athlete of the caliber of Edwin Moses on our campus giving our kids who love the same sport some great advice," said Oglethorpe men's and women's track and field Head Coach Jan Spiro. "The folks from Sky Sports could not have been nicer and seeing our student-athletes interact Moses was a real treat."

After over an hour of instruction and filming shots, Moses and the Sky Sports crew graciously said their goodbyes before the Oglethorpe track and field coaching staff gave the track teams a wake-up call: the real practice was about to begin.

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