Devers, Gail (1966—)

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Devers, Gail (1966—)

American track-and-field athlete who won three Olympic gold medals. Born on November 16, 1966, in San Diego, California; only daughter and one of two children of Larry Devers (a Baptist minister) and Alabe Devers; attended the University of California, Los Angeles; married and divorced R.J. Hampton (a track-and-field athlete).

Won silver medal in 100-meter hurdles at World championships (1991); won gold medal in 100-meter sprint (closest finish ever recorded in Olympic race) at Olympic Games, Barcelona, Spain (1992); won gold medal in 100-meter sprint at World championships (1993 and 1999); won 100-meter hurdles at U.S. Track championship (1995); won gold medals in 100-meter hurdles and 4×100 relay at Atlanta Olympics (1996).

The story of American track-and-field athlete Gail Devers has been called one of the most inspiring in the history of sport. In 1988, newly married and on the brink of a promising career, Devers was stricken with Graves' disease, a serious thyroid disorder that compromises the metabolic and nervous systems. In addition to the debilitating symptoms of the illness, she experienced such serious side effects from the treatments used to cure her that at one point doctors seriously considered amputating her feet. With the help of a new therapy, however, Devers made a dramatic recovery, then battled further to get her body and mind back into championship form. Her dramatic comeback was the subject of a television movie, "Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story," which first aired on June 16, 1996.

The daughter of a Baptist minister, Gail Devers was born and raised in San Diego, California. "We were a 'Leave It to Beaver' family," she recalled in a Sports Illustrated article. "We had picnics, rode bikes and played touch football together. We did Bible studies together. My father and brother played the guitar together." She also noted that her parents were fairly strict; she and her brother had to be in the house when the streetlights went on, and the only program they were allowed to watch on television was "I Love Lucy." (Devers became so addicted to the sitcom that she collected most of the 179 episodes.)

Gail dreamed of becoming a school teacher and only dabbled in sports before entering high school where she started out as a distance runner. By her senior year, she had developed into an impressive sprinter: she won the 100-meter sprint and the 100-meter hurdles at the California high school track championships and was offered a scholarship to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

Her college track coach turned out to be the dynamic Bob Kersee, who sized up her potential immediately. Predicting that she would some day break the U.S. record in the 100-meter hurdles and that she would make the 1988 Olympic team, he set about getting her into shape. "I hadn't had much coaching," Devers told Sports Illustrated. "So I thought that if he had all this faith in me, he'd coach me well. For quite a while Bobby believed in me more than I believed in myself."

In her senior year, Devers set a new American record for the 100-meter hurdles (12.61) and easily qualified for the Olympics in Seoul, Korea. Newly married to R.J. Hampton, another young track star, her future appeared to hold nothing but promise. But in Seoul, she failed to make the finals, a disappointment that she first attributed to over-training. Throughout the next two years, however, she experienced a series of mysterious and frightening symptoms that included weight fluctuations, severe headaches, memory loss, and nearly perpetual menstrual bleeding. Doctors, who were baffled for months, finally diagnosed Graves' disease and began chemotherapy and radiation treatments to shrink her enlarged thyroid. The treatment destroyed the gland completely, causing her skin to crack and bleed and her feet to swell and ooze to the point that she could only crawl or be carried around her apartment. She later estimated that she came within 48 hours of losing her feet to amputation, before doctors decided to risk a new therapy. Devers responded instantly to the new protocol and, within a month, was back on her feet. A year later at the 1991 World championships, she won a silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles.

Devers also made a strong showing at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. In the hurdles, she took a commanding lead but tripped over the final hurdle to come in fifth; even so, she went on to win the 100-meters in the closest finish ever recorded—100th of a second. Devers' gold-medal triumph was somewhat dimmed when fellow American Gwen Torrence implied that some of the 100-meter competitors were using performance-enhancing drugs. Devers avoided the ensuing controversy except to admit to using Synthroid to fool her body into thinking she had a thyroid gland. Bob Kersee was more emphatic in his reaction, calling the accusations "sour grapes." At the 1993 World championships, Devers had another close win in the 100-meter sprint, beating Jamaican Merlene Ottey-Page

by only several 100ths of a second. (Both runners were given the same time on the scoreboard, and it was only after the race that the judges awarded the win to Devers.)

Starting in 1994, when her world ranking in the 100-meters dropped considerably, Devers began to concentrate on the hurdles. She won the 100-meter hurdles at the 1995 national championships and received a gold medal in the event at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta (along with a gold medal in the 4-by-100 relay). "It's obvious there is not a hurdler in the world as fast as Gail," said Kersee at the time about his star. "[E]very hurdler in the world has got to be intimidated by Gail because they all know rule No. 1: remove the hurdles and there's no way they can outsprint her."

Devers, who is further distinguished by her long and immaculately manicured fingernails (which she covers with athletic tape when performing), makes her home in Atlanta with her dogs. She is a voracious reader, whipping through long novels at a feverish clip, and possesses the quiet inner strength that comes from triumphing over enormous odds: "[T]here's nothing that can come up in my life that I can't get over after going through what I did," she says, looking back on her illness. "I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but I'm happy I went through it. I think back … to March of 1991, when I was wondering if I would ever walk again, let alone run."