Born May 18, 1950, Opelousas, La. Died November 11, 1997.

During the early 1970s, no one dominated the 110-meters hurdles as did Rod Milburn. The Southern University student set or tied the world record five times and his time of 13.24 while winning the Olympic gold medal at Munich wasn't broken for five years. Besides earning the Olympic gold in 1972, Milburn also won the 1971Pan-American Games title.

In 1971, Milburn was undefeated in 28-straight races and was named Track & Field News Athlete of the Year. During a semifinal race at the National AAU meet in 1971, he won the 120-yards high hurdles in 13.0, breaking the old world record of 13.2 that was set 12 years earlier. After 1972, he turned to professional track but resumed his amateur competition in 1980 and was ranked fifth in the world. He remained world ranked until his final retirement in 1983. During his heyday, he won three national collegiate hurdles titles and four National AAU championships, two each indoors and outdoors.