Emmit King is a retired track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 sprinter

Sprint (race)

Sprints are short running events in athletics and track and field. Races over short distances are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, which was a race from one end of the stadium to the other...

 from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, who twice was a member of the American Relay Team for the Summer Olympics (1984 and 1988) but he didn't compete. He is best known for winning the bronze medal at the inaugural 1983 World Championships

1983 World Championships in Athletics

The inaugural World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between August 7 and August 14, 1983....

 in the men's 100 metres. He set his personal best (10.04) in the 100 metres on 1988-06-17 at a meet in Tampa, Florida

Tampa, Florida

Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

.

While at the University of Alabama

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

, King became the 1983 NCAA 100 meters National Champion (10.15 seconds). In 1986, he became a member of Phi Beta Sigma

Phi Beta Sigma

Phi Beta Sigma is a predominantly African-American fraternity which was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students. The founders A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I...

fraternity through the Theta Delta chapter at the University.