André Lamar Phillips (born September 5, 1959) is a retired American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who is best known for winning the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

gold medal at the

1988 Olympic Games 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul ...

. Phillips spent most of his career in the shadow of his idol,

Edwin Moses Edwin Corley Moses (born August 31, 1955) is an American former track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400 m hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races) an ...

, frequently as runner up during Moses' unequaled

winning streak A winning streak, also known as a win streak or hot streak, is an uninterrupted sequence of success in games or competitions, commonly measured by at least 4 wins that are uninterrupted by losses or ties/draws. Although sometimes claimed as a ...

. He managed to beat him once, at the 1988 Olympic Games in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. In 1983, Phillips finished fifth in the 400 m hurdles at the inaugural

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

. In 1985, in absence of Moses, Phillips won his only US National Championship title, and also won the

IAAF World Cup The IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field competition organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The event was proposed by IAAF former President Primo Nebiolo and was first held in 1977 as t ...

. In 1988, Phillips lost to Moses at the Olympic trials, but showed a good pace at Olympics, winning his heat and semifinal. In the final, Phillips ran his personal best 47.19 to win a gold medal, beating second-place Amadou Dia Ba from

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

by 0.04 seconds. At the time he was the second fastest individual over the hurdles. The two times currently still rank them as the #10 and #11 performers of all time. Although Moses ran his fastest Olympic final, he finished only third in a time of 47.56. It was the final race of Moses' career. In 2009, Phillips was inducted into the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, b ...

. Phillips attended at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, and won the 400 m hurdles at the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

championships in 1981. Prior to that, he attended Silver Creek High School in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, where he won the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

in the 330-yard low hurdles in 1977. in 36.43. He continues to hold the 330-yard low hurdle record at Silver Creek at 37.1 sec. He joins 1976 4x100 meter relay Gold medalist, and individual

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

Silver medalist

Millard Hampton Millard Frank Hampton Jr. (born July 8, 1956) is an American former athlete, winner of gold medal in 4 × 100 m relay and the individual silver medal in the 200 meters at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Born in Fresno, California, Millard Hampton was ...

, in one of the rare instances (the school claims only eight exist) of two unrelated Olympic Gold Medalists coming from the same high school. Silver Creek continues to host the "Hampton Phillips Classic" named in their honor. Hampton Phillips Phillips is a former teacher at Stagg High School, a former Assistant Principal at Franklin High School, and is now the current Principal at Stagg High School in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

. Phillips earned his educational doctorate (Ed.D.) at Concordia University Irvine.

References

* Wallechinksy, David and Jaime Loucky (2008). "Track & Field (Men): 400-Meter Hurdles". In ''The Complete Book of the Olympics – 2008 Edition''. London: Aurum Press Limited. pp. 165–6.

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Andre 1959 births Living people African-American male track and field athletes American male hurdlers Schoolteachers from California Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Junior college men's track and field athletes in the United States Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Track and field athletes from Milwaukee Track and field athletes from San Jose, California UCLA Bruins men's track and field athletes 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople