Devers, Greene Storm Into Hall

The Class of 2011 for induction into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame located at The Armory has been announced with multiple Olympic gold medalists Gail Devers, Maurice Greene and Vince Matthews leading the field of six.

Also slated for induction on Dec. 3 in St. Louis, Mo., will be distance legends Clarence Demar and Craig Virgin and renown coach Bob Timmons. Virgin was actually selected with the Class of 2010, but deferred induction until this year as the USATF Annual Meeting, and its Jesse Owens Hall of Fame Banquet, would take place nearer his hometown of St. Louis.

Devers, Greene and Virgin were selected as modern athletes while Matthews and Demar were chosen as veterans, those retired for more than 25 years. Timmons, obviously, represents the coaches.

The finalists from each category are selected by a committee from a list of nominations. Members of the selection committees examine the nominations and evaluate their merit based on a set of criteria. Elections for modern and veteran athletes are held each year. Elections for coaches are held in odd numbered years with contributors elected in even numbered years. Hall of Fame inductees, members of the National Track & Field Hall of Fame Board and Committees and members of the media all vote on elections for the National Track & Field Hall of Fame.

Devers, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, competed until the age of 40, racking up 13 World Indoor and Outdoor medals. Diagnosed with Graves Disease in 1991, she faced radiation treatment as well as the possibility of amputation. Instead she had a career full of enormous accomplishment. In 2007, she not only won the Millrose Games' 60-meter hurdles, her time of 7.86 seconds was the best in the world that year.

Greene, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder, ran sub-10 for 100 meters 53 times, including a personal-best 9.79 in 1999. That year he won a triple crown at the World Championships, taking 100m, 200m and 4x100m gold. He followed with double gold (100m, 4x100m) in Sydney in 2000. Greene was most recently in the spotlight as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars.

Virgin, a two-time World Cross Country individual champion, was one of the best-known distance runners in the world 30 years ago. An NCAA cross country champion in 1976, Virgin won nine Big 10 championships at Illinois before becoming the only American to qualify for the Olympic Games three times in the 10k. He twice broke records held by legendary Steve Prefontaine.

Matthews, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was among the most recognizable long sprinters of his generation. He was first a member of the world record-setting 4x400m relay at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and then won the individual 400m crown at the ill-fated 1972 Munich Games. He would likely have claimed a third gold, but he was banned from the 4x400m by the IOC after the organization deemed his medal-stand behavior as inappropriate.

Demar, a seven-time winner of the Boston Marathon, was one of the first high-mileage runners. His first win in Boston came in 1911 and his last, at the age of 41, in 1930. At that time he became known for running nearly 100 miles per week. He was an Olympic bronze medalist in the marathon in 1924 and the town of Keene, N.H., contests the Clarence Demar Marathon each year.

Timmons, who coached seven Olympians, 16 world record holders and mentored Jim Ryun to the first sub-4-minute high school mile, had a coaching resume no one could match. In addition to coaching Ryun at Wichita East High, he also served to coach four-time Olympic gold medalist Al Oerter at the University of Kansas. His teams won four NCAA titles and 17 state high school crowns.