Home/Track & Field
0
  Debate

Debate

Did Gail Devers' resilience redefine what it means to be a champion in track and field?

As coal becomes a diamond, an athlete becomes a champion. But to become a track and field legend, now that is reserved for the few who can look challenges in the eye and not flinch! And such is the story of the track legend Yolanda Gail Devers. By the time Gail was in high school, she was running 800m, clocking 2:08! Talk about leaving a legacy before you’ve even hit your prime. That was just the beginning!

Fast forward to the 1992 Olympics, and Gail Devers went on to set a whole new standard with her wins. She went on to become one of the fastest women and even wore the 100m Olympic champion crown. And then, in 1996, she was back at the Olympics. Devers held on to her 100m title. This was an accomplishment in itself, considering she was only the second woman in history to have done that. While her story seems like every athlete’s dream come true, moments before her dreams came true, life threw her perhaps the worst curveball of them all!

The moment things started “deteriorating” for Gail Devers.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Not long before Gail Devers made it to the Olympic podium, she had to fight a battle that was tougher than the competition. Let’s go back in time to the 1988 Olympics. That year, Gail was all set to do her 100m hurdles semi-finals. Unfortunately, her performance was not even close to her usual self. So what happened? It turns out that Gail, during this period, was experiencing a period of adversity in life due to her health that began with intense migraines and struggling with vision issues.

While her condition was bad enough, what made it worse was that no doctor seemed to understand. “As an athlete, you know when something’s wrong,” said Gail as she reminisced about the unfortunate days on the Ready Set Go podcast set. “You know, in your heart, you can feel it.” This loop of misdiagnosis went on for a long time. Many medical professionals even went on to reduce her symptoms to the downfalls of overtraining. Gail’s reaction? Well, she felt like she was “going crazy.” And why wouldn’t she?

What’s your perspective on:

Did Gail Devers' resilience redefine what it means to be a champion in track and field?

Have an interesting take?

The physical toll was just as frightening as it was confusing. Gail Devers went on to further talk about the days when her condition was just cluelessness. “I stopped looking at myself in the mirror,” she recalled. But why? She shared that her nails were breaking, she was losing hair, and she had skin issues that made her feel like her body was deteriorating. Plus Gail Devers was losing weight.

And this was no ordinary weight loss; she had gone from her racing weight of 120 pounds to 79 pounds. Gail Devers explained that during her difficult time with her illness, track legends Bob Kersee and Jackie Joyner-Kersee were instrumental in helping her physically recover. They encouraged her to bulk up and regain strength, particularly by eating more substantial, “stick-to-your-ribs” foods like steak and potatoes. But nothing seemed to help! In fact, she shared how she wrote Bobby a resignation letter saying, “’You know what? I feel like you got Florence, you got Alice, you got Valerie, you got all these great athletes out here, Jackie. I feel like I’m wasting your time.’ Yeah, and they wouldn’t let me quit.”

Mentally, Gail’s mind was still determined to overcome these obstacles, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. She described how she kept trying to train and compete, even though her body was failing her in every way—she pulled her hamstring six times, and her resting heart rate was dangerously high. “You could have a heart attack, you could die.’ I can’t have that out here. So, he just made me sit there and, you know, take my heart rate and wait and see. And it didn’t come down. He sent me home,” Gail Devers shared with Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green. That was the moment she paused her training. She knew she wasn’t herself anymore and after two and a half years of symptoms with no diagnosis,. It was all glum until her long-time team physician finally took her symptoms seriously!

A diagnosis after a series of mishaps, followed by a comeback for the ages!

After years of unfortunate misery, Gail Devers finally had a diagnosis. She was diagnosed with Graves’ disease. Graves’ is a near-fatal thyroid condition that is caused by excessive production of the thyroid hormone. The moment she was diagnosed, Gail was all “tears.” The diagnosis at that time saved Gail’s life. She went into treatment and gradually built her strength back up. And then came the comeback to remember!

Gail got back on track for the 1992 Olympics 100m final. It was one of the greatest finals in Olympic history, with five women finishing within a 0.06-second difference of each other. But like the legend she is, Devers went on to win the Olympic gold. In the years that came after, Gail Devers focused on her health while training and grew stronger. In 1993, Gail Devers couldn’t let her crown fall. So she decided to defend the same at the World Championships. Any guesses on what happened?

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

 

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Well, Devers continued to wear that crown and win gold. This made her the first woman since Wyomia Tyus to retain an Olympic 100 m title. But Gail was far from done. She went on to win for many years after. By the end of her career, Gail had won three Olympic golds. One in the 100 meters at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and two in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where she claimed gold in both the 100 meters and the 4 × 100 meters relay, five world championship titles, and four World Indoor Championships.

Now, that is how a track and field legend is made. Gail Devers was unstoppable until her last iconic race. As a 40-year-old mother, she ran the 60-meter hurdles and won! The only way to stop Gail was if she did so herself, but boy-oh-boy, what a way to end a career!

Have something to say?

Let the world know your perspective.