Herman Frazier had no ambition to become a sprinter, much less an Olympian.

He grew up playing baseball in Philadelphia, dreaming about a career in the big leagues.

But one PE class in high school changed the entire course of his life.

Frazier jumped over a 6-foot-4 high bar and wowed the coach, who struck a deal with him: He wouldn't have to come to practice — Frazier was playing baseball, basketball and football at the time — but he would compete in meets. Frazier agreed.

A year later, the senior third baseman, who hadn't run in any track events before, was the Philadelphia Public League 400-meter champion.

Four years later he won the gold medal in the men's 4x400 meter relay at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. He also won bronze in the 400-meter dash.

"It's incredible," said Frazier, now 52 and in his fifth year as athletics director at the University of Hawai'i. "It's a crazy story."

With two Olympic medals, gold medals from the Pan-American Games, NCAA titles and All-American honors, Frazier was also a serious contender for gold in the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, until the U.S. boycotted the Olympics that year.

"I accepted it, though," Frazier said. "It was easy for me because I had already been to the Games. ... That was the beginning of the rest of my life."

He didn't compete in the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles but stayed involved with the United States Olympic Committee.

Already working in the athletic department at Arizona State, Frazier focused on a career in athletic administration.

He stayed at ASU for 23 years before taking a job as athletics director for the University of Alabama-Birmingham in 2000.

And in June 2002, Frazier became the 17th director of athletics at UH. Over the past four years, he's presided over the department as its budget rose from $16 million to $21 million annually.

"Being AD has been really, really interesting," he said. "It's like being a minister of sports. I deal with the governor, the mayor, the Board of Regents. I don't think any other AD does that."

On a typical day — not that he has many of them — Frazier wakes up at 6 a.m., often starting the morning with a 3-mile run around Hawai'i Kai.

He gets into his very tidy office between 7 and 8 a.m. to read the newspapers, check e-mail and prepare for a day of meetings, phone calls and interviews.

If he doesn't have a scheduled lunch meeting, Frazier usually skips the midday meal, surviving on coffee and water until dinner.

"That's when I wind down," he said.

If he missed his morning run, he'll get one in after work. Then he'll watch CNN before dozing off around 1 a.m.

His busy schedule often makes it difficult for Frazier to fit in any kind of workout.

But he has to run. If not to keep his weight below 175 — his personal goal — to keep his sanity.

"It's something I've always enjoyed," said Frazier, who golfs on occasion and avoids the weight room. "I never saw it as a chore."

But as a former student-athlete, he knows and appreciates the value of fitness.

"A healthy society is a good society," Frazier said.

He hopes the student-athletes who leave UH — most of whom he knows by name — fondly remember their time in Hawai'i.

"You have to have fun in college," Frazier said. "And you have to take advantage of the education. When they leave and look back, I want them to say, 'Those were the best four years of my life.' "

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.