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. Devers is regarded as one of the greatest and most decorated female sprinters of all time. She was the 1992 and 1996
Olympic 100m champion; the second woman in history to defend an Olympic 100m title. 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] She was the 1993, 1997 and 2004
world indoor 60m champion. In the 100 m hurdles, she was the 1993, 1995 and 1999 world champion, and the 1991 and 2001 world silver medalist. In the 60 m hurdles, she was the 2003 world indoor champion and 2004 silver medalist.
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
JamaicanJuliet 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.
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]
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.