Mark McKOY

Having been born in Guyana, Mark McKoy spent his formative years in England, before settling as a young teenager in Canada, from where he emerged to become one of the world's top 110m hurdlers. McKoy's best time prior to 1982 was 13.97sec, but he improved rapidly during that year, culminating in his winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane on 4 October, in a new Commonwealth record time of 13.37sec. Mark also won a silver medal at Brisbane, as a member of Canada's second-placed 4 x 100m relay team.

McKoy continued to make his mark on the international scene during 1983, contesting the final in a number of championships. In July, he finished third at the World University Games in Caracas, and the following month he qualified for the final at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki, where he set his season's best time of 13.53sec in the heats on 12 August.

In the final held the following day, McKoy (see photo above, in lane 2) finished fourth behind Greg Foster (lane 5) from the USA. Later that month, Mark competed at the Pan-American Games in Caracas, where he finished in sixth place. McKoy made a good start to 1984, improving his Commonwealth record to 13.27sec in an early season meet at Walnut on 25 July. In August that year he competed in his first Olympic Games in Los Angeles, although he had previously been selected on the 1980 team for Moscow, but had been denied the opportunity to compete due to Canada joining the USA-led boycott by a number of western countries. In the final at Los Angeles, held on 6 August, McKoy led the field out of the blocks, but faded to finish an unlucky fourth, duplicating his finishing position at the previous year's World Championships. (Ron Casey)

After having won the 110m hurdles title at the 1982 Commonwealth Games as a 20 year-old, Mark McKoy had experienced difficulty in duplicating this performance at the global level, finishing fourth at both the 1983 World Championships and the 1984 Olympic Games. He did not compete in a major championships in 1985, but he did equal his Commonwealth record of 13.27sec when he won his fifth consecutive national title at Ottawa on 3 August. The following year, he was provided with the opportunity to defend his Commonwealth title at the Games held in Edinburgh. In the 110m hurdles final, held on 27 July, McKoy (see photo above, 2nd from right) narrowly defeated Welshman Colin Jackson (3rd from right) in a wind-assisted time of 13.31sec. McKoy won a second gold medal on 2 August, when he ran the lead leg on Canada's victorious 4 x 100m relay team which equalled the Games record of 39.15sec.

In 1987, Mark was unlucky not to win the 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis on 8 March. Getting away to his usual fast start, McKoy quickly built a clear lead, before Greg Foster (USA), overbalanced after hitting two hurdles and collided with Mark, knocking them both to the ground and out of the race. McKoy shrugged off that disappointment in the outdoor season, as he again broke his Commonwealth record, when he narrowly lost to Foster at the Budapest Grand Prix on 6 July, with both athletes recording the same time of 13.23sec. McKoy appeared to be the main threat to Foster at the World Championships held later that year in Rome, however in the final held on 3 September, although he again got away to his characteristic fast start, Mark badly hit three hurdles and finished a disappointing 7th. (Ron Casey)

Men's 110m. Hurdles Final.

Commonwealth Games 1986

Mark McKoy had quite an up and down year in 1988. Early in the season, on 24 June, he broke his Commonwealth record at Lausanne, setting a new time of 13.17sec. On 26 September, he finished seventh at the Olympic Games in Seoul, after badly crashing into a number of hurdles. Following the stripping of teammate Ben Johnson's 100m gold medal due to a positive drug test, McKoy made a premature departure from Seoul prior to the 4 x 100m relay, in which he was to compete. McKoy subsequently admitted to using drugs at the Dubin Enquiry, and was given a two-year suspension. McKoy made a low-key return to competition in 1990, winning his ninth Canadian title at Montreal in August. He won his tenth title the following year, and then went on to finish fourth at the World Championships in Tokyo on 29 August.

McKoy's best year was undoubtedly in 1992, when he bettered his previous best time on six occasions, starting with a new Canadian record of 13.11sec on 24 May. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona, McKoy seemed to be finally on the verge of ending his string of fourth-place finishes at major international championships when he won his semi-final in 13.12sec on 3 August. In the final, held later that day, McKoy got his usual fast start, and simply ran away from the field. Although he slammed into the last hurdle (see photo above by G.H. ©), Mark still had enough momentum to easily win the gold medal in 13.12sec. He continued this form into the following year when he won the 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships in Toronto. McKoy had immigrated to Austria during this period in his life, and, after becoming an Austrian citizen in June 1994, he finished his career competing for his newly-adopted country. (Ron Casey)

Men's 110m. Hurdles Final.

Olympic Games 1992