Gail Devers ends mystery, will run Millrose hurdles
The mystery? Well, Olympian Gail skipped the 2005 track season after biting off more than she could chew at the Athens Olympics, where she tried for a 100-100 hurdles double. (She pulled up in a hurdles heat.) And the question on many people’s minds was: Has she retired? The answer came today in a USATF news release. She’s entered the 60-meter hurdles at the Millrose Games in NYC. And at age 39 (she turns 40 in November), she’ll be the oldest sprinter in the elite portion of the meet.
Gail, of course, has never run in masters competition. But like sprinter Merlene Ottey, she’s aware that she’s an inspiration to many, especially older athletes. Her legacy is more than winning a bunch of Olympic and world championship medals. It’s proving you can do your thing at a high level long after leaving college. (Ottey, BTW, turned 45 last May and hasn’t officially retired.)
The listed W35 American record for 60-meter hurdles is 8.96 by Charlene Landrum, who was 36 when she ran that time in Boston in 2001. The listed W35 world record for the event is 8.04 by Russia’s Yelizaveta Chernyshova in 1993. Both are bogus.
In 2004, at age 37, Gail ran 7.76 at the Millrose Games. It was the fastest 60-meter hurdles time by an American that year. In 2003, at age 36, she set the American record with a 7.74 at Boston. (The races for W35 and open athletes both include five 33-inch hurdles, and the same 8.5 meters distance between barriers.)
Why no W35 record?
Silly reader! She didn’t submit paperwork!
So USA Track & Field lists Gail Devers as American record holder for a performance made at age 36, while USA Track & Field lists a mark a second slower as the masters W35 record.
Silly USATF! You don’t even pay attention to yourself!
(And you sure as hell don’t pay attention to me!)
