Tom Hill is not an arrogant man. His accomplishments are worthy of accolades and appreciation.

Nonetheless, the current vice president of Student Affairs boasts an achievement that very few individuals can claim: an Olympic medal.

Long before he became an ISU administrator, Hill was setting the pace on the global track scene. He caught the eye of college recruiters during his high school days in New Orleans.

Arkansas State University offered Hill a full-ride track scholarship, a move that ultimately set him on the path to the Olympics.

“That was an interesting experience. I wasn’t a hurdler, [but my coach] converted me to a hurdler. And my progress was quick and interesting,” said Hill. “I didn’t actually know what I was doing. I was just having fun. It wasn’t difficult. It was just different.”

In his first meet, the long-legged sprinter cleared the 110-meter hurdles in 15.6 seconds. By the end of his freshman season, Hill had slashed his time to 14.2 seconds.

As the years passed, he continued to see remarkable drops in his times. In 1970, Hill blazed to a 13.2-second finish, a world-record pace.

His rapidly-rising career was jeopardized in 1971, when an injury kept him from competition. Hill battled back from the injury, and during his senior collegiate season, he posted times good enough to earn him an invitation to the Olympic trials for the 110-meter hurdles.

Qualifying was an accomplishment in itself. Surpassing the competition at the U.S. Team Trials would be a whole new challenge.

“There was a significant amount of pressure for the trials, and that’s because the U.S. has a tradition of dominating the Olympics in 110 [meter] hurdles. It’s noted that the competition, round after round, is more fierce in the Olympic trials than it is in the Olympic Games,” Hill said.

“The finals in the Olympic Games are a little more pressure-packed, but to get to the finals in the trials in this country is more difficult than getting there in the Olympics,” he said.

Each country was allowed no more than three participants in each event. Faced with a formidable talent pool at the time trials, Hill needed to be on top of his game in order to advance.

“It doesn’t matter how fast you run. If you don’t perform on that day, you don’t go to the Olympics,” Hill said. He would eventually carry his number-three world ranking through the U.S. trials.

Heading into the 1972 Olympics, the German hosts were striving to overcome their dark past. The Munich games marked the first time the Olympics had been held on German soil since the nation hosted in 1936 (when it was under Nazi rule).

As Hill recalls, many people referred to the 1972 Olympics as the “Happy Games.” That moniker seemed apt at first. Then something terrible happened.

On September 5, Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic Village, kidnapping and eventually murdering a total of 11 Israeli athletes. The tragic events marred the Games and took a toll on everyone involved.

“It went from a free-flowing, friends and family [event that] anyone can come in, to armed guards around the entire perimeter of the Olympic Village. It really changed the mood of what was going on,” Hill said.

One member of the U.S. team was famed swimmer Mark Spitz. As Hill recalled, Spitz became a focal point for the security forces.

“Mark Spitz was a member of that team, and he was Jewish. So after the attacks, everywhere he went, he had an entourage. And in order to get to him, you would have to get through I don’t know how many people,” Hill said.

The “Munich Massacre” jeopardized the event, but it was decided that the Games should be completed. As they progressed, Hill found himself on the track, making a push for his Olympic dreams.

Hill had no problem throttling the early competition. He breezed to victories in the first, second and semifinal rounds. When the finals approached, Hill began to feel the pressure and found himself standing toe to toe with the greatest hurdlers in the world.

“I used to look at cartoons when I was a little kid. And they would have these characters who were shipwrecked on an island. They’d be dreaming about food. I distinctly remember this one cartoon where this one character was dreaming about something, and as he’s getting ready to eat it, it flies away.” Hill vividly recalled.

“I don’t know why I did this, but in my head I saw the gold medal flying away. I saw the silver medal flying away. I said to myself, I had to do something. I kicked it in,” Hill said.

Hill crossed the tape neck-and-neck with another runner, not knowing whether or not he would make it to the medal stand.

“At the very end of the race, I leaned and I looked inside to my teammate. Our eyes met and it appeared that we were crossing at the same time,” Hill said. “It seemed like three hours later, but it was no more than 2 minutes at the most. They flashed my name up and I jumped straight up in the air.”

The elation boiled over. Hill had now become an Olympic bronze medalist in the 110-meter hurdles. In just four years, he had gone from being a high jump and long jump specialist to establishing himself as one of the top hurdlers in the world.

Hill also competed with some of the most famous – and infamous – track stars in U.S. history. Dave Wottle, the 800-meter gold medalist, famously donned a golf hat during his race and recieved criticism for not removing the hat during the playing of the national anthem.

Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett also made headlines on the medal stand. The 400-meter medal winners were banned from future Olympic events for twirling their awards during the national anthem, an action that was deemed disrespectful.

Perhaps Hill’s most famous teammate was the late Steve Prefontaine. “Pre” was an virtually unbeatable long-distance runner in the 1970s, and one of the most colorful characters the sport has ever seen.

“The thing that made him special was he was a distance runner, and there’s a personality type associated with a distance runner: [someone who is] a loner, quiet. Well, Steve had the personality of a sprinter. A sprinter is always talking about how good they are and that kind of stuff. He would take a victory lap and blow kisses to the crowd. [He was a] nice guy, a good guy, and it’s tragic what happened and that his life was cut short,” Hill said.

Hill continued to compete on the national and international level. He remained a top hurdler throughout the 1970s as a member of the U.S. national team and a member of the U.S. Army, competing in the CISM Military Games.

He will forever cherish the people, places and events of the 1972 Olympic Games. However, staying true to his humble ways, Hill describes it as “just another trinket in the life.”