Upcoming Event: Track & Field versus NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 10, 2026
Track & Field
vs NCAA Outdoor Championships
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Duke Athletics to Honor Al Buehler on Friday
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke Athletics will honor Al Buehler Friday evening, holding a ceremony to unveil a bust dedicated to the legendary track and field coach.
A member of the Duke Sports Hall of Fame, Duke legend Al Buehler coached the Blue Devil track and field program for 45 years. Following a stellar undergraduate career at the University of Maryland, Buehler joined the Duke Athletics staff in 1955 as the head cross country coach—a position he would hold for four-and-a-half decades.
Buehler coached numerous All-Americans, seven Penn Relay champions, six ACC Championship cross country teams, and five Olympians—two of whom went on to win medals.
Coach Buehler broke new ground in race relations, international sport, and women’s athletics. Despite the practice of segregation common in the South at the time, Buehler formed a lasting friendship with Dr. LeRoy Walker, the track coach at North Carolina Central University, inviting him and his team to train on Duke’s state-of-the-art track. Buehler and Walker went on to organize several historic track meets at Wallace Wade Stadium including the Pan Africa-USA International Track Meet (1971), Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Games (1973) and USA-USSR Dual Track Meet (1974).
He also helped institute the Duke women’s track team in the late 1970s. Leveraging groundbreaking Title IX legislation, he was a strong advocate for women’s sports programs.
He stepped down from coaching after overseeing Duke’s hosting of the 2000 NCAA Track & Field Championships. An encore performance after he’d brought the NCAA Championship meet to Wallace Wade Stadium in 1990. After retiring from coaching, he continued to serve as chairman of the physical education department until 2005.
A popular figure in the classroom as well as on the field, Buehler was well known for his “History and Issues of American Sport” seminar which routinely filled to capacity. He taught this course yearly until 2015, finishing his tenure at Duke with an incredible 60 years. In 2015, he received the University Medal, Duke’s highest honor for distinguished meritorious service.
Friday’s ceremony will include a welcome from Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin White, remarks from Buehler’s son Bo Buehler, along with closing remarks from current Director of Track and Field Norm Ogilivie. The event is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Morris Williams Track and Field Stadium, with a reception on Skandalaris taking place shortly after.
#GoDuke
