Greg Foster’s track career started in his freshman year at Proviso East after he didn’t make the third cut for the basketball team.
Basketball’s loss turned out to a blessing for track and field, where he would go on to be a dominant force at the national and international levels. Among many accomplishments, he was the world champion hurdler 1983, 1987 and 1991 and the 1984 Olympic silver medalist.
For the past nine years Proviso East has hosted a statewide track invitational named in his honor, held most recently last weekend at the indoor track at Proviso West. Most years he was at the meet talking to athletes and coaches, even in 2020, just five weeks after emergency heart transplant surgery after being diagnosed with a rare heart condition.
Greg Foster passed away peacefully, at 64, on Sunday, Feb. 19.
