Crawford ran for
Eastern Michigan University under coach Bob Parks during his college years. He was the runner up at the
1975 Pan American Games in the 100 metres. His coach prepared him for the 100 metres and 200 metres events at the
1976 Summer Olympics with a strategy of only allowing him to run in a few races during the season. This tactic paid off, as Crawford, in the inside lane 1, narrowly won the
100 metres final in a time of 10.06 seconds, just 0.02 seconds in front of
Don Quarrie of
Jamaica, winning
Trinidad and Tobago's first Olympic gold medal. He had also qualified for the
200 metres final, but was forced to pull out mid-race after injuring his pelvis After these Games, Crawford met with further success, winning the 100 metres event at the
Central American and Caribbean Championships in 1977. On returning home, Hasely Crawford had both a jet and a stadium named after him. During his reign as the 100 metre Olympic champion, he also appeared on postage stamps and was awarded Trinidad and Tobago's highest honour,
Trinity Cross, in 1978. This award was changed to the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Crawford went on to compete in a total of four Olympic Games as he also represented T&T at both the
Moscow and
Los Angeles editions in 1980 and 1984, but was unable to qualify for another final. Crawford's last international medals were a bronze and a silver which he won at the
1978 Commonwealth Games in the 100 metres and the 4 × 100 metres relay respectively. In 2000, he was named the Trinidad & Tobago Athlete of the Millennium. He is a member of the Caribbean Hall of Fame, along with
Ato Boldon and
Arthur Wint, one of only three track and field athletes to be inducted.
Personal best marks •
50 m: 5.78 (indoor, February 1979, Ottawa) •
100 m: 10.06 s (July 1976, Montreal) •
200 m: 20.93 s (June 1977,
London) ==International competitions==