Gail Devers

Ninety-five meters into the [1992 Summer] Olympic women's 100-meter dash, the crowd had quit cheering. The sprinters crossed the finish line to exhalations of disbelief, to stunned muttering. The question of who was the fastest woman in the world had just been decided. But no one could tell who she was. She herself didn't know. Here, in a heavenly grove atop Barcelona's Montjuic, five sprinters had expected to reach a lonely pinnacle. Instead, they found themselves on a plateau crowded with virtual equals. …

Five meters from the finish, Devers was passing [Russian Irina] Privalova, [Jamaican Juliet] Cuthbert was catching Devers, [Jamaican Merlene] Ottey was catching Cuthbert, and [American Gwen] Torrence was catching Ottey. The five seemed to merge at the line. Even the blurry, warped finish photo on the scoreboard, freezing the sprinters in the throes of their final efforts, was of no immediate help. But wait. If it's a sentimental favorite you want, look again at Devers, leaning there in lane 2, and listen to what she has endured over the last Olympiad.

Source: Moore, Kenny. Sports Illustrated (August 10, 1992): 12.