Tony Waldrop

Tony Waldrop (December 29, 1951 – December 3, 2022) was an American academic administrator, researcher, and athlete.

Early life Waldrop was born in Columbus, North Carolina. In high school, he was the state champion in the half mile.

Waldrop attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) where he was a Morehead-Cain Scholar and served on the track team. He was on the cover ofTrack and Field News in both March and May 1974; the latter feature him at the Penn Relays.

In 1975, he became the assistant track coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Waldrop said, "It was a really easy decision to decide to hang up the shoes and get on with the rest of my life. I never regretted the decision [to retire during the Olympic year], maybe there were one or two seconds of momentarily regret when I watched the 1500m at the Olympics... I accomplished a lot more in track than I ever imagined I would. There were a lot more things I wanted to do with my life…" In 2014, he became the third president of the University of South Alabama.

Awards and honors North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame ACC Athlete of the Year, 1974 Patterson Medal, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill