Gail Devers (Yolanda)

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Yolanda Gail Devers is one of the fastest women in the world, but that is not the only reason I admire her. She is also hardworking, determined, caring, and thoughtful.

Gail Devers showed she was hardworking even at a young age. She has been running since she was little. She used to race her older brother, and when she lost he would make fun of her. Instead of giving up, Gail practiced until she was fast enough to beat him. On the fateful day when she did finally beat her brother, she fell in love with racing. Gail continued to race all throughout high school and was drafted by many colleges, but she chose to attend the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). She then went on to break many records.

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Determination is one of Gail's strongest traits. In 1988, while she was training for the '88 Olympics, her health started to fail. She experienced migraine headaches, sleeplessness, fainting, and frequent vision loss. Her first conclusion was that she was just stressed out from Olympic training, but she later found out she had Graves disease, which is a debilitating thyroid disease. It caused her feet to blister and swell so that they would bleed. She was forced to stop running because she was in so much pain. Although, doctors believed they would have to amputate her feet, she never lost hope. Eventually, she overcame Graves Disease. 17 months later she won the Gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in the 100-meter dash. She was then named, "The fastest woman in the world." She went on to win two more gold medals at the 1996 Olympics in the 100-meter dash and hurdles.

Gail showed she was caring and thoughtful when she started the Gail Devers Foundation in 1996. It helped dysfunctional families and individuals develop into well-rounded people, who contribute positively to the community.

Throughout Gail Devers' lifetime she did many heroic deeds. She worked hard, was determined, caring and thoughtful. From reading and writing about her, she has greatly affected my life. I will now strive harder to be determined, caring, and hardworking. She is definitely a wonderful hero to whom I look up to and admire.