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Johnny Gray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's athletics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | Barcelona 1992 | 800 metres | |
Johnny Gray (born June 19, 1960) was an American 800m runner of the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1985 he set the US record of 1:42.60 min at a meet in Koblenz. He came seventh in the 1984 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 600m best in 1986 at 1:12.81 min.
In 1992 and 1993 Gray came close to breaking the world indoor record over 800m several times. He holds the US indoor record at 1:45.00 min (Sindelfingen 1992).
Having lead the Olympic 800m 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.