Gail Devers
Seattle, Washington, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 3 in (160 cm)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Weight | 121 lb (55 kg)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Hurdles, Sprints | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | University of California, Los Angeles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Yolanda Gail Devers (
In 2011, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Life and career
Devers was born in
Devers started in 800m in high school and ran a personal best of 2:08.[4]
In 1990, she was diagnosed with
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
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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
In 2011, she was elected into the
References
- ^ a b c d "Gail Devers". usatf.org. USA Track & Field. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Landells, Steve (August 17, 2009). "Event Report – Women's 100m – Final". IAAF. Archived from the original on August 21, 2009. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Athletics LLC EP35: Gail Devers". YouTube. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ^ "Gail DEVERS | Profile".
- ^ "Records Indoor Women". Archived from the original on December 5, 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2010. WMA World Indoor Record
- ^ "Long Nails: Gail Devers's long nails – 1". Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "NCAA announces Silver Anniversary Award winners" (Press release). NCAA. November 8, 2012. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
External links
- Gail Devers at World Athletics
- Gail Devers at the USATF Hall of Fame (archived)
- Gail Devers at the Team USA Hall of Fame (archive July 20, 2023)
- Gail Devers at Olympics.com
- Gail Devers at Olympedia
- Gail Devers' struggle with Graves' disease is featured in the 1996 television movie, "Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story" starring Charlayne Woodard as Gail Devers and Louis Gossett Jr. as Gail's coach Bob Kersee.