Gail Devers

Gail Devers’ first marriage was to Ron Roberts, a fellow athlete. Their marriage unraveled after she became ill with Graves’ disease and the couple divorced in 1991.

She is currently married to Mike Phillips and has two daughters.

Yolanda Gail Devers was born in Seattle on November 19, 1966. Her father was a minister while her mother was a teacher. She has one elder brother, Parenthesis, who grew up to become a professional bodybuilder. *When the children were young, she used to race with her brother and trained hard to be able to beat him. A good runner, she soon started participating in races at her school, Sweetwater High School, and helped her team win several awards in interschool competitions.

She won the 100m race and 100m hurdles at the state championships in 1984, the year she graduated from high school. Her amazing performances earned her many offers of athletic scholarships from prestigious institutions and she chose to join University of California at Los Angeles where she trained under the legendary coach Bob Kersee

In 1987, she gave a superb performance at the Pan American Games, winning gold medals in the 100m dash and the 4x100m relay. Hailed to be a rising star, she started training for the 1988 Summer Olympics.

In 1988, she started experiencing some health problems. She suffered from weight loss, skin discoloration, hair loss, migraines, and other issues but her condition could not be diagnosed. Despite her health problems she qualified for the Olympics 100m hurdles, in which she was eliminated in the semi-finals.

Her health continued to deteriorate over the following months and she was finally diagnosed with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid, in 1990. She underwent a grueling treatment regime that included radioactive iodine treatment followed by thyroid hormone replacement therapy.

The disease and the treatment took its toll on the young woman’s body and she developed blistering and swelling on her feet that were so severe that the runner could barely walk and had to crawl and or be carried. Her condition worsened to the extent that a doctor suggested amputating her feet.

Ever the courageous soul, she refused to give up to the disease and bravely fought back. Incredibly, she made a considerable recovery and was soon able to regain the use of her feet.

Gail Devers was elected into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2011. The following year she was elected into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.

In 2013, she received the Silver Anniversary Award that is given each year by the American National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to distinguished former college student-athletes on the 25th anniversary of the end of their college sports careers.