- Johnny Gray
John ("Johnny") Lee Gray (born June 19, 1960 in
Los Angeles, California ) was an American 800 m runner of the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1985 he set the US record of 1:42.60 min at a meet inKoblenz . He came seventh in the1984 Summer Olympics , fifth in 1988, and won the bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. In 1993 Gray was one of the favourites to win a gold medal at the World Championships in Stuttgart as he had won the A-race at the prestigious meeting in Zurich. However, he failed to qualify for the final in Stuttgart. He also set a world 600 m best in 1986 at 1:12.81 min.In 1992 and 1993 Gray came close to breaking the world indoor record over 800 m several times. He holds the US indoor record at 1:45.00 min (Sindelfingen 1992).
Having lead the Olympic 800 m race at the
1992 Summer Olympics with a blazing first lap at better than world record pace, Gray was passed twice during the final lap to claim the bronze medal. A reporter later asked him what he would have done differently if he could run the race a second time, and it is rumored that he responded, "I would have taken it out harder." Runners refer to such an attitude as "taking it to the Gray zone" in his honor.References
* [http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/gr/johnny-gray-1.html sports-reference]
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