12/04/07 

They slowed down the fastest man in the room Saturday. Larry James once held world records and won Olympic medals, but Saturday at Richard Stockton College it took James nearly 10 minutes to walk across the gymnasium he helped build -- because people kept stopping him, surging forward to hug him and hold on.

Stockton College recognized James for "humanitarian services to our students and our country" Saturday with a program that celebrated four decades of excellence and brought friends and family from across the country -- as well as various members of the 1968 Olympic team, including John Carlos and Lee Evans, Vincent Matthews and Ron Freeman, James' teammates on the gold medal 4x400 relay team.