HAS GOLD, WANTS HURDLES TWO-TIME 100-METERS CHAMP GETS TO CONCENTRATE ON HER SPECIALTY, THE 100 HURDLES.

Byline: Karen Crouse Staff Writer

Gail Devers has had a summer to rival Tiger Woods' or Karrie Webb's.

Al Gore and George W. Bush would gladly take her early returns.

Devers is `n sync, she is destiny's child, she is to the 100-meter hurdles rankings what Britney Spears wishes she was to the pop singles charts.

Since June 30, the former UCLA standout has posted the year's four fastest times in the event. She'll bring seven of the top 10 marks in 2000 to Sydney, including her American-record effort of 12.33 from the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento in July.

``This is my year in the hurdles,'' she said in Sacramento. ``This is meant to be.''

We'll see. Devers pulled out of a final Olympic tune-up meet, in Berlin, the first Friday of September with a hamstring injury.

If it were any other year, Devers could return home to nurse her hurt hamstring and feel, if not fulfilled, then certainly not forgotten. But this being an Olympic year, nothing else matters except how Devers runs on Sept. 27. On that night the 100-meter hurdles final will be contested in Sydney's Olympic Stadium.

Funny, isn't it, how the only major international track and field competition of the year that doesn't offer appearance fees or large purses carries the most value.

If Devers dominates the Sydney finals field the way she has the competition in Sacramento, Brussels, Zurich, Rome, Monaco, Oslo and Lausanne, she'll be lauded from here to Lucknow.

Anything short of another victory and she'll be remembered the world over for a race she lost.

Again.

Devers, you see, is the sprint hurdles answer to football's Dan Marino; the greatest performer never to win The Big One.

For someone who excels in an event that requires exquisite timing, Devers's timing sure has been lousy. In 1988 in Seoul, she was eliminated in the semifinals in the hurdles while suffering from symptoms that eventually would be diagnosed as Graves' Disease, a debilitating thyroid disorder that required extensive radiation therapy.

Devers, 33, returned to competition in 1991 after regaining her health and was favored to win the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. But in the final her lead foot grazed the last hurdle and she lost her balance and her lead, falling from first to fifth place in a matter of feet.

At the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, Devers, the reigning world champion in the 100 hurdles, finished fourth, missing a gold medal by .08 second and a bronze medal by .01 second.

The fact that Devers won the 100-meter dash at the 1992 Olympics and again in 1996 made the hole in her hurdling resume all the harder to hide.

``Everyone says I'm a hurdler and not a sprinter,'' Devers said. ``The irony is I have Olympic gold medals in the sprint and not the hurdles. One of the reasons I'm still competing is (to get) a gold medal in the hurdles. Had I accomplished that, I can't say I'd be (competing) today.''

Devers has soared over the hurdles this summer as if she were on the back of Pegasus. Or maybe there's something to what she says about having ``a guardian angel resting on my shoulder. As long as I lead my life right things are going to work out all right.''

Whatever, the ease with which she has run and won is deceiving.

In April, Devers pulled her left hamstring, overcompensated and wound up with her injured right heel in a boot cast for seven weeks. Sometimes it seems her body is joining the chorus of people hinting that she ought to retire.

Her body and track's busybodies ought to know: Devers isn't paying them any mind.

``I don't think anybody can push you out of the sport,'' Devers said. ``You leave when you want to. If I'd rather be home playing with my dogs, that's when it's time to retire. Right now, Gail Devers is still having fun on the track.''

Hers has been an immensely satisfying journey, notwithstanding those jarring speed bumps otherwise known as the Olympics hurdles races. ``It's not about accolades or what other people think of me,'' Devers said. ``It's about what I think of myself.''

Has Devers thought much about her race in Sydney? You bet she has.

When she visualizes it, ``I see myself not hitting any hurdles,'' she said.

She was smiling as she spoke, having learned the hard way that humor is the best tactic when it comes to the Olympic sprint hurdles race.

GAIL DEVERS

Age: 34

Residence: Alpharetta, Ga.

College: UCLA

Past Olympics: Won 100 meters gold medal in '92 and '96; eighth in 100H semis in '88.

Highlights: World 100 hurdles champion in '93, '95 and '99 . . . favored to win 100 hurdles after running 12.33 at U.S. Olympic Trials . . . won nine Pac-10 titles in two years.

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Kirby Lee

Special to the Daily News Box: GAIL DEVERS (see text)