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Gail Devers

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Gail Devers
Gail Devers during her induction to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, 2011
Personal information
Full nameYolanda Gail Devers
BornNovember 19, 1966 (1966-11-19) (age 57)[1]
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm)[1]
Weight121 lb (55 kg)[1]
Sport
Event(s)Hurdles, Sprints
College teamUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona 100 m
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta 100 m
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta 4 × 100 m relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1993 Stuttgart 100 m
Gold medal – first place 1993 Stuttgart 100 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place 1995 Gothenburg 100 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place 1997 Athens 4 × 100 m relay
Gold medal – first place 1999 Seville 100 m hurdles
Silver medal – second place 1991 Tokyo 100 m hurdles
Silver medal – second place 1993 Stuttgart 4 × 100 m relay
Silver medal – second place 2001 Edmonton 100 m hurdles
World Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 1993 Toronto 60 m
Gold medal – first place 1997 Paris 60 m
Gold medal – first place 2003 Birmingham 60 m hurdles
Gold medal – first place 2004 Budapest 60 m
Silver medal – second place 2004 Budapest 60 m hurdles
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1987 Indianapolis 100 m
Gold medal – first place 1987 Indianapolis 4 × 100 m relay

Yolanda Gail Devers (/ˈdiːvərz/ DEE-vərz;[2] born November 19, 1966) is an American retired track and field sprinter who competed in the 60 metres, 60 m hurdles, 100 m and 100 m hurdles. One of the greatest and most decorated female sprinters of all time, she was the 1993, 1997 and 2004 world indoor champion in the 60 m, while in the 60 m hurdles, she was the 2003 world indoor champion and 2004 silver medalist. In the 100 m, she is the second woman in history to defend an Olympic 100 m title, winning gold at both the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. She was also the 1993 world champion in the event, becoming the first ever female sprinter to simultaneously hold the world and Olympic titles in the 100m.[3] In the 100 m hurdles, she was the 1993, 1995 and 1999 world champion, and the 1991 and 2001 world silver medalist. In 2011, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Life and career

[edit]

Devers was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up near National City, California, graduating from Sweetwater High School in 1984.[1] Sweetwater's football and track stadium would later be named Gail Devers Stadium. 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.[citation needed]

Devers started in 800m in high school and ran a personal best of 2:08.[4]

In 1990, she was diagnosed with Graves' disease and underwent radioactive iodine treatment followed by thyroid hormone replacement therapy.[citation needed] During her radiation treatment, Devers began to develop blistering and swelling of her feet. Eventually, she could barely walk. Devers recovered after the radiation treatment was discontinued, and she 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 1993 World Championships in Athletics 100 m 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 of 10.94 seconds, but Devers was judged to have finished first and became the first woman to retain the Olympic 100 m title since Wyomia Tyus. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce duplicated the feat in 2012, and Elaine Thompson-Herah in 2021. In the final of her favorite event, Devers again failed, as she finished fourth and outside of the medals. With the 4 × 100 m relay team, Devers won her third Olympic gold 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.

Devers competed in the 100 m and 100 m hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, her fifth Olympic Games.[5]

Devers left competition in 2005 to give birth to a child with her husband and returned in 2006.

On February 2, 2007, at the age of 40, Devers edged 2004 Olympic champion Joanna Hayes to win the 60 m hurdles event at the Millrose Games in 7.86 seconds – the best time in the world that season and just 0.12 off the record she set in 2003. Furthermore, the time bettered the listed World Record for a 40-year-old by almost 7 tenths of a second.[6]

During her career, Devers was notable for having exceptionally long, heavily decorated fingernails. One of the fastest starters in the world, Devers even had to alter her starting position to accommodate her long nails.[7] Her long nails came as the result of a contest her father devised to get her to stop biting her nails as a child.[8]

International competitions

[edit]
Year Competition Venue Position Event Result
Representing the  United States
1988 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 8th (sf) 100 metres hurdles 13.51
1991 World Championships Tokyo, Japan 2nd 100 metres hurdles 12.63
1992 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 1st 100 metres 10.82
5th 100 metres hurdles 12.75
1993 World Indoor Championships Toronto, Canada 1st 60 metres 6.95
World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 1st 100 metres 10.82
1st 100 metres hurdles 12.46
2nd 4 x 100 metres 41.49
1995 World Championships Göteborg, Sweden 1st 100 metres hurdles 12.68
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 1st 100 metres 10.94
4th 100 metres hurdles 12.66
1st 4 x 100 metres 41.95
1997 World Indoor Championships Paris, France 1st 60 metres 7.06
World Championships Athens, Greece 1st 4 x 100 metres 41.47
1999 World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 2nd 60 metres 7.02
World Championships Seville, Spain 5th 100 metres 10.95
1st 100 metres hurdles 12.37
4th 4 x 100 metres 42.30
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia — 100 metres hurdles DNF (sf)
2001 World Championships Edmonton, Canada 2nd 100 metres hurdles 12.54
2002 IAAF World Cup Madrid, Spain 1st 100 metres hurdles 12.65
2003 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 1st 60 metres hurdles 7.81
World Championships Paris, France 6th 100 metres 11.11
3rd (sf) 100 metres hurdles 12.87
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 1st 100 metres hurdles 12.45
2004 World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 1st 60 metres 7.08
2nd 60 metres hurdles 7.78
Olympic Games Athens, Greece 7th (sf) 100 metres 11.22
— 100 metres hurdles DNF (sf)

Achievements and recognition

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In 2011, she was elected into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. The following year she was elected into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.[9] In November 2012, Devers was announced as a 2013 recipient of the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, presented annually to six distinguished former college student-athletes on the 25th anniversary of the end of their college sports careers.[10]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Gail Devers". usatf.org. USA Track & Field. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  2. ^ "Say How? A Pronunciation Guide to Names of Public Figures: D – Library of Congress". Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  3. ^ Landells, Steve (August 17, 2009). "Event Report – Women's 100m – Final". IAAF. Archived from the original on August 21, 2009. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  4. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Athletics LLC EP35: Gail Devers". YouTube. December 4, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  5. ^ "Gail DEVERS | Profile".
  6. ^ "Records Indoor Women". Archived from the original on December 5, 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2010. WMA World Indoor Record
  7. ^ "Long Nails: Gail Devers's long nails – 1". Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  8. ^ "Athlete: Gail Devers – the Many-Splendored Faces of Today's Black Woman Ebony – Find Articles". findarticles.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2007. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  9. ^ "USA Track & Field – Devers, O'Brien, Temple, Connolly selected to U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  10. ^ "NCAA announces Silver Anniversary Award winners" (Press release). NCAA. November 8, 2012. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
[edit]
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Women's Track & Field ESPY Award
1994
2003–2004 		Succeeded by
Gwen Torrence
Not awarded
Sporting positions
Preceded by Women's 100m Hurdles Best Year Performance
1993
1999–2000
2002–2003 		Succeeded by
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