LeRoy T. Walker
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Contest:
The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Contributors 2024
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Sport(s):
Olympic Executive and Coach
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Statistics:
Member of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame
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LeRoy T. Walker first became the head coach of the track team at North Carolina Central, and he would produce many Olympians and put the school on the map as a track destination. Walker's teams at NCCU won 35 national championships, and he coached 80 All-Americans, and he would coach internationally at the Olympics for Israel, Ethiopia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Kenya. He also served as the chairman of the Amateur Athletic Union of the men's track and field committee.
Walker made history as the first African-American coach of an Olympic team for the United States when he ran the track and field squad at the 1976 Olympics.
In 1992, Walker would become the first African-American to be named the president of the United States Olympic Committee, a role he held for four years. Walker would later receive the Olympic Order from the IOC.
Walker passed away in 2012.
We are proud to nominate LeRoy T. Walker for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.