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From Mary Shomon Your Thyroid Guide

Gail Devers: Hurdling Thyroid Obstacles On Her Way to the Gold: Top Sprinter and High-Profile Thyroid Patient Wants Gold in 100-Meter Hurdles in Sydney

``I know the window is closing, but I don't think it's closed yet. I'm still looking toward the future, and my future is Sydney.''

--Gail Devers

Cool Running magazine calls Gail Devers one of the "Top Runners of the 20th Century." Devers' Olympic gold-medal winning performance in the 100-meter dash at the 1992 Barcelona games earned her the accolade, "World's Fastest Woman." And Devers is one of only two women in history to win the 100 meters in consecutive Olympics. But beyond the athletic accolades this 33 year old sprinter has earned, Devers, who is hoping to participate in the 100-meter hurdles event at the the 2000 games, is one Olympian who has jumped hurdles far more difficult than those on the sports field.

Devers, who was a gold medalist in the 100-meter dash at the 1987 Pan-American Games, and 1988 PAC-10 Athlete of the Year, had just left her first Olympics in 1988. At 22, when she should have been in top condition, Devers was instead feeling weak, forgetful, and suffering a variety of other symptoms. Her famous ultra-long fingernails were breaking.

Says Devers of that time, "While training for the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, my health began to deteriorate. I suffered migraine headaches, sleeplessness, fainting spells and frequent vision loss. I should have been at my peak performance. Instead, I was constantly exhausted and my body felt out of control. "

While doctor after doctor failed to make a diagnosis, the athlete dropped from 125 to only 87 pounds, suffered debilitating fatigue, lost nearly all her hair, and suffered other symptoms she has publicly described as "traumatic." In her testimony before Congress in January of 2000, Devers described how doctors dismissed her symptoms of weight loss, fatigue, hair loss, rapid heart rate, and dry skin as normal for an Olympic athlete in training. After more than two years, and in such a severe state that doctors discussed amputating her feet, Devers was finally diagnosed with severe Graves' Disease, an autoimmune condition that causes hyperthyroidism, an overactive thyroid. She had Radioactive Iodine (RAI) treatment to disable her thyroid, and was put on thyroid hormone replacement therapy.

Less than two years after she was finally diagnosed and began treatment, Devers surprised everyone by making an astounding comeback, winning the gold medal for the 100-meter dash at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Says Devers, "It's disheartening for me as an athlete to think that I depend on my body, and I think I know my body, and at a point in my life my body seems to have failed me. I'm so glad now that I as able to get my life back on track by being diagnosed."

Devers' battle with thyroid disease was even the subject of the movie "Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story." Devers was portrayed by Charlene Woodard, and Lou Gossett Jr. played the role of Bobby Kersee, Devers' coach.

GlandCentral campaign, sponsored by the American Medical Women's Association, and funded by Knoll Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of Synthroid brand levothyroxine sodium thyroid hormone.
Gail Devers

In mid-July of 2000, Devers was all set to make Olympic history, by trying to become the first woman to win the 100-meter dash in three straight Olympics. Devers, however, failed to qualify for the U.S. team for the Sydney Games in the 100. She finished in 11.149 seconds, less than two-hundredths of a second behind third-place finisher Chryste Gaines. The top three finishers -- Marion Jones, Inger Miller and Gaines -- made the Olympic team.

Following the race, Devers told the Associated Press, "That opportunity to make history is gone. Now I have to concentrate on the hurdles."

The 100 hurdles is the event Devers has always considerd her best, despite the fact that she has failed to win an Olympic medal in that event. In the 1992 games, she crashed into the final hurdle, finishing a disappointing fifth. Again, in Atlanta in 1996, she finished fourth, missing a medal in the hurdles. Missing out on previous medals has made Devers even more determined go for the 100-m hurdles gold in Sydney.

Devers showed that determination, running a nearly flawless race in the Saturday, July 22, 2000 semi-final qualifying race at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, California , and earning her top spot on the Olympic team on Sunday July 23. Devers won the 100-m hurdles, setting an American record of 12.33 seconds that makes her the fourth-fastest in the history of the event. The world record in the 100-m hurdles is 12.21, held by Bulgarian Yordanka Donkova.

After the race, Devers told the Associated Press, "I have no clue about the middle,'' she said, ``and at the end I hit a hurdle, but I wasn't going down. I'm very pleased with the time - 33 years old and running 12.33." She added: "I knew the 100 hurdles was my last chance to be on the team."

"One of the reasons I'm still competing is to get a medal in the 100-meter hurdles.
This may be my year.''
--Gail Devers

Devers told the Associated Press that she might have retired four years ago if she had won the hurdles at the Atlanta Games. Said Devers, "One of the reasons I'm still competing is to get a medal in the 100-meter hurdles,'' she said. ``This may be my year.''

Round 1 in Women's 100m Hurdles will take place on Monday, September 25, 2000 at the stadium at Sydney Olympic Park.

Gail Devers' Career Chronology
Nov. 19, 1966 Devers birthdate
1987 Devers wins a gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1987 Pan-American Games
1987-1988 Devers named PAC-10 Athlete of the Year at UCLA
1988 Devers wins the NCAA 100-meter dash. Sets an American record in 100- meter hurdles.
1988 Devers health begins to fail
1989 Devers' Graves' Disease is diagnosed, and treatment begins
1991 Devers finishes in second place Tokyo World Championships.
1991 Devers sets American record in 100-meter hurdles in Berlin.
1992 Devers wins Olympic Gold in the 100-meter dash at Barcelona games, earning her the accolade, "World's Fastest Woman"
1993 Devers wins the 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany (something that hadn't been done in 45 years)
1993 Devers sets American record in 100 meter hurdles
1994 Devers wins U.S. Outdoor Championship
1995 Devers wins National Champion and World Champion titles and is ranked Number 1 in U.S. for 100-meter hurdles
1996 Devers wins two Olympic gold medals for 100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay at Atlanta Games.
1999 Devers wins a gold medal and sets a new American record in the 100-meter hurdles at the World Championships in Seville, Spain (12.37), and joins Wyomia Tyus as the only women to successfully defend an Olympic title in the 100.
July 23, 2000 Devers qualifies for 100 meter hurdles event and earns a place on the U.S. Olympic Team, coming in first in the U.S. Olympic track and field trials and setting an American record of 12.33 seconds, making her the fourth-fastest in the history of the event
September 25, 2000 Round 1 in Women's 100m Hurdles will take place at the stadium at Sydney Olympic Park.


FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GAIL DEVERS, THE SYDNEY OLYMPICS, AND GRAVES' DISEASE/HYPERTHYROIDISM




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