Gail Devers

Yolanda Gail Devers (born November 19, 1966) is an American retired track and field athlete. A three-time Olympic champion for the United States Olympic Team, she is also an inductee of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. Devers was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up near National City, California, graduating from Sweetwater High School in 1984. 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 even further. In 2011, she was elected into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. The following year she was elected into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. In November 2012, Devers was announced as a 2013 recipient of the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, presented annually to six distinguished former college student-athletes on the 25th anniversary of the end of their college sports careers.