John Lee Gray Jr. (born June 19, 1960) is a retired American world class 800 meter runner from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s and the holder of the 600m world best. A four-time-Olympian (1984-1996) in 1985 he set the US record of 1:42.60 at a meet in Koblenz. That time puts Gray as the nineteenth fastest performer of all time. He came seventh in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

, fifth in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, and won the bronze medal at the

Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

of 1992. In 1993 Gray was one of the favourites to win a gold medal at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

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 the world 600 meter record in 1986 at 1:12.81. In 1992 and 1993 Gray came close to breaking the world indoor record over 800 m several times. He held the US indoor record at 1:45.00 (

Sindelfingen Sindelfingen (Swabian: ''Sendlfenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg in south Germany. It lies near Stuttgart at the headwaters of the Schwippe (a tributary of the river Würm), and is home to a Mercedes-Benz assembly plant. History * 1155 � ...

1992) till February 2019.

Running career

Gray went to

Crenshaw High School Crenshaw High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located on 11th Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The school first opened in 1968 and currently enrolls arou ...

Santa Monica College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a public, community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. Although initially serving primarily pre-college high sc ...

, Arizona State University and received his graduate degree from

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

. He ran his "professional" career for the

Santa Monica Track Club Santa Monica High School Girls Track team first coach is Dalal M. Ahmad, a USC graduate doing her second semester of student student teaching . She was placed in charge of the team in 1972 during her second semester of student teaching The Santa Mo ...

. When he qualified for the 1996 Olympics by winning the 1996 Olympic Trials on his 36th birthday, he became the oldest male American track athlete to qualify for the Olympics. Other older athletes who qualified were throwers, race walkers, marathoners and pole vaulter Jeff Hartwig. Joetta Clark holds the same honor for women. Having led the Olympic 800 m race at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

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." This tactic also resulted in some devastating failures as in the 1987 and 1993 World Championships when he jogged to the finish of quarterfinal races, depleted and defeated. He walked to the finish of the 1980 Olympic Trials. He was inducted into the USA National Track and Field Hall of Fame Dec. 2008. Also member of Santa Monica College Hall of Fame, Millrose Games in NYC Hall of Fame, Mt. Sac Relays Hall of Fame, and obtained the key to the city for Santa Monica, Inglewood, Walnut, Agoura Hills and New York.

Masters career

Gray attempted to extend his career into

masters athletics Masters athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of over 35 years of age. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. Competitors are bracketed into five-year age groups (which promotes fair comp ...

. He had stated he intended to set new world records at all distances from

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

to the mile. At age 40, he ran the 800 in 1:48.81 at the 2001

USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships in ...

, which is the

World Masters Athletics World Masters Athletics (WMA) is the worldwide governing body for the sport of masters athletics – which includes track and field, cross country, and road running events – as participated by people over 35 years of age. As the need became ap ...

record indoors. The time was superior to the outdoor world record, most recently held by Jim Sorensen, until that record was surpassed by Anthony Whiteman, May 20, 2012. Based on IAAF rule 260.18a, that should have been the world record, but it was never formally recognized.

Coaching

After competing in six Olympic Trials (1980-2000) he turned to coaching. His foremost protege' was SMTC teammate Khadevis Robinson, who Gray coached to 5 National Championships. Robinson might best be remembered as the odd man out in the famous " Oregon sweep" at the 2008 Olympic Trials. That might be the second closest Olympic Trials race, to Gray's own 1984 trials, when Gray finished second, but was given the same ( American record) time as Earl Jones, and James Robinson was the odd man out with the same time as 3rd place John Marshall. Gray also coached at

Harvard-Westlake School Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school consisting of two campuses located in Los Angeles, California, with approximately 1,600 students enrolled in grades seven through twelve. Its two predec ...

for six years. He then worked as an assistant coach at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

with Jeanette Bolden. In 2013, when Boldon moved to head the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

program, Gray followed suit. Gray is now coaching top American Duane Solomon.

Competition record

References

External links

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Johnny Gray
at

USA Track and Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Johnny 1960 births Living people American male middle-distance runners Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Los Angeles Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games World record holders in masters athletics UCLA Bruins track and field coaches Track and field athletes from Los Angeles Santa Monica College alumni Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Sports coaches from California Sports coaches from Florida Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Crenshaw High School alumni Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games