Gail Devers
Yolanda Gail Devers (born
November 19,
1966 in
Seattle, Washington, USA) is a three-time
Olympic 100 m champion in
athletics for the
US Olympic Team. Devers grew up near
San Diego and graduated from Sweetwater High School in nearby
National City, CA.
A young talent in the 100 m and 100 m hurdles, Devers was in training for the
1988 Summer Olympics, started experiencing health problems, suffering from among others
migraine and vision loss. She qualified for the Olympics 100 m hurdles, in which she was eliminated in the semi-finals, but her health continued to deteriorate even further.
In
1990, she was diagnosed with
Graves' disease, and started radiation therapy. Amazingly, Devers recovered quickly and resumed training. At the
1991 World Championships, she won a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles.
At the
1992 Summer Olympics, Devers starred. She qualified for the final of the 100 m, which ended in an exciting finish, with five women finishing close (within 0.06 seconds). The
photo finish showed Devers had narrowly beaten
Jamaican
Juliet Cuthbert. In the final of the 100 m hurdles, Devers' lead event, she seemed to be running towards a second gold medal when she hit the final hurdle and stumbled over the finish line in fifth place, leaving
Voula Patoulidou from
Greece as the upset winner.
In
1993, Devers won the 100 m World Championship title after - again - a photo finish win over
Merlene Ottey in an apparent dead heat, and the 100 m hurdles title. She retained her hurdles title in
1995.
The 100 m final at the
1996 Summer Olympics was an almost exact repeat of the World Championships final three years before. Ottey and Devers again finished in the same time and did not know who had won the race. Again, both were awarded the same time, but Devers was judged to have finished first and became the first woman to retain the Olympic 100 m title since
Wyomia Tyus. In the final of her favourite event, Devers again failed, as she finished fourth and outside of the medals. With the 4 x 100 m relay team, Devers won her third Olympic medal.
After these Olympics, Devers concentrated on the hurdles event, winning the World Championship again in
1999, but she had to forfeit for the semi-finals at the
2000 Summer Olympics.
*
Official Website*
Gail Devers' U.S. Olympic Team bio*
Olympic medalists in athletics
