Mark McKoy

The peripatetic Mark McKoy was born in Guyana, spent his youth in England, but moved to Canada as a teenager. McKoy came to international attention in 1982, winning a gold in the 110 m hurdles and silver in the sprint relay at the Commonwealth Games. In 1983 McKoy finished fourth at the first World Championships, repeating that finish the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. In 1986, McKoy repeated his high hurdle victory at the 1986 Commonwealth Games and turned his 4x100 relay silver to a gold medal.

At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, McKoy placed seventh, after badly crashing into a number of hurdles. Following the stripping of teammate Ben Johnson’s 100 m gold medal due to a positive drug test, McKoy made a premature departure from Seoul prior to the relay, in which he was to compete. McKoy subsequently admitted to using drugs at the Dubin Enquiry, and was later given a two-year suspension.

McKoy made a come-back at the 1991 World Championships, again finishing fourth in the 110 m hurdles. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, McKoy ended his string of fourth-place finishes at major internationals. In the final, McKoy got his usual fast start, and simply ran away from the field, and although he slammed into the last hurdle, he still had enough momentum to easily win the gold medal in 13.12. During his two-year suspension McKoy moved to Austria and, after becoming an Austrian citizen in 1994, finished his athletics career competing for his newly-adopted country.

Personal Best: 110H – 13.08 (1993).