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But Gail began to experience physical problems. First came pulled muscles. Her performance began to suffer. She began to experience severe headaches, blurred vision, and shaky hands. She lost weight. Her well-muscled 120-pound body was down to 97 pounds. Gail Devers, the speed demon, could no longer win.

Gail's doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. In 1990, a team physician finally diagnosed Graves' disease - a condition caused by an enlarged thyroid. Treating the disease wasn't easy. Gail developed painful swelling and blistering of her feet. She couldn't walk. Gail was in danger of losing her feet. Desperate for a solution, her doctors modified her treatment one last time. It had to work.

Fortunately, Gail recovered, and set her sights on the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Gail had less than two years to train. It would take all the discipline she could muster. Gail worked hard, and when the Olympics arrived, she competed in the 100-meter finals and won the gold medal.

Gail went on to win the gold medal again in the 100-meter dash at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, becoming the second woman to accomplish the feat of winning this prestigious event in two Olympic Games.

After nearly loosing her feet to disease in 1990, Gail has now qualified for four consecutive Olympics, from 1988-2000. At the Sydney Olympic Games, Gail is running in the 100-meter hurdles. She qualified for the Olympics by setting a new American record in the event at 12.33 seconds, the event's fastest time in eight years. Gail says, "This is my year in the hurdles. This is meant to be."

The Olympic Spirit in YOU!
Discipline was the key to Gail Devers' ability to overcome the disease and stage the comeback to reach her Olympic dream. There are four different components to discipline, each of which Gail had to master:

• Discipline of the body: the physical side of you;
• Discipline of the mind: the mental side of you;
• Discipline of the heart: the relationships side of you; and
• Discipline of the inner self: the commitment to yourself.

More Athletes

Ann Meyers Drysdale Bart Conner Billy Mills Baron Pierre de Coubertin Gail Devers Greg Barton Henry Marsh John Naber

Karch Kiraly Mary Lou Retton Matt Ghaffari Milt Campbell Nadia Comaneci Nancy Hogshead Paul Gonzales Terry Schroeder

For more great stories about Olympians, ask your librarian for books about Olympic spirit, including Awaken the Olympian Within complied by John Naber, and The Olympic Dream and Spirit, Vol. 1, 2, and 3, with Bob Schaller.