"I've Got Unfinished Business"
Gail Devers Targets Olympic Gold in 100 Meter Hurdles On Monday, September 25th
by Mary J. Shomon
 |
"I'm considered a hurdler, but I've won all my medals in the 100 meter dash.
This is the one medal that's eluding me."' --Gail Devers |
In an interview on Thursday, September 21, 2000 with the NBC "Today's" Katie Couric, Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter and Graves' disease survivor Gail Devers seems confident and eager to win the gold.
"I have unfinished business…something I really want to pursue," said Devers, referring to her effort to win her first medal in the 100 meter hurdles. The 100 hurdles is the event Devers has always considered her best, despite the fact that she has failed to win an Olympic medal in that event.
In the 1992 games, Devers 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 100m hurdles gold in Sydney.
Devers said, "It's a challenge between me and the hurdle, and the hurdle has always won."
Since she failed to qualify for the 100m dash this summer, Devers has been able to focus all her recent training on the hurdles, and feels confident ready.
Couric asked Devers about her thyroid condition. Devers said, "I have to be cautious, have my thyroid levels checked, and as long as I do that, I'm fine."
Thyroid disease is not the only thing that has the potential to slow Devers down; at 33, Devers is also, as Couric said, "the Grande Dame of track and field."
"I'm the oldest hurdler, male or female, going into the Games," said Devers, "but that's ok with me."
The qualifying rounds for the 100 meter hurdles competition took place Monday September 25, 2000 in Sydney.
| UPDATED RESULTS! Find out how Gail Devers performed in her Olympic semifinal rounds and the big race, by going to: Gail Devers Olympic Update |
| FOR MORE INFORMATION. . . For the complete athletic history and thyroid story of Gail Devers, see: 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. |
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GAIL DEVERS, THE SYDNEY OLYMPICS, AND GRAVES' DISEASE/HYPERTHYROIDISM
- Frequently Asked Questions on Hyperthyroidism/Graves' Disease
- Women's 100-Meter Hurdles Fact Sheet -- From the About Track and Field Site
- About Track and Field
- Gail Devers' Biography -- NBC's Official Olympics Site
- Gail Devers' Official Website
- NBC's Official Olympics Site
- Official Site of the Sydney 2000 Olympics
- Official Site of the International Olympic Committee
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