Mark Anthony McKoy (born December 10, 1961) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete. He won the gold medal in the

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hu ...

at the

1992 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 ...

. He also won the 60 metres hurdles title at the

1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 4th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from March 12 to March 14, 1993. It was the last Indoor Championships to feature the 5,000 and 3,000 metres race walk events. In addition, i ...

, and the 110 metres hurdles titles at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in 1982 and 1986. He is the World record holder for the 50 metres hurdles with 6.25 secs (1986), and the Canadian record holder in the 60 metres hurdles with 7.41 secs (1993), and the 110 metres hurdles with 13.08 secs (1993).

Athletic career

Born in Georgetown, British Guiana, Mark McKoy spent his youth in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, before moving to Canada as a teenager. He attended

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

in 1980, but dropped out. McKoy came to the international athletics scene in 1982 by winning a gold medal in 110 m hurdles and silver in

4 x 100 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

at the

. In the next year McKoy finished fourth at the first World Championships and repeated this place at 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 ...

. In 1986, McKoy repeated his victory in 110 m hurdles at

and turned his 4x100 m relay silver to gold medal, but finished seventh at the 1987 World Championships. McKoy finished seventh in the hurdles at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, as he hit a number of hurdles in the final. His compatriot

Ben Johnson Ben, Benjamin or Benny Johnson may refer to: In sports Association football * Ben Johnson (footballer, born 2000), English footballer * Ben Johnson (soccer) (born 1977), American soccer player Other codes of football *Ben Johnson (Australian foot ...

tested positive for banned substances at the Games. In protest of the rush to judgement and treatment of his friend and teammate, Mark left the Olympic games prior to competing in the 4 x 100 metre relay race. This act led to Mark's 2 year suspension from international athletics by the Canadian Olympic Committee. Over the course of the

Dubin Inquiry The Dubin inquiry was a Canadian government Commission of Inquiry into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance held in 1989 after the Ben Johnson doping scandal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The commission was ...

, McKoy testified that as a young man and under pressure from his coach, Charlie Francis, he briefly experimented with performance enhancing drugs. McKoy made a comeback at the 1991 World Championships, finishing fourth again in 110 m hurdles. At the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, McKoy put his fourth-place streak behind him and won the gold medal in 13.12 seconds. It was the first Canadian Olympic gold medal in track and field since

Duncan McNaughton Duncan Anderson McNaughton (December 7, 1910 – January 15, 1998) was a Canadian athlete, who competed mainly in the high jump. He went on to a career in petroleum geology. Biography McNaughton was born in Cornwall, Ontario, and grew up in V ...

's first-place finish in the high jump competition in 1932 and at the same time, Mark McKoy became the first black Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal. At the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

he won the 60 m hurdles. A training mate of

Colin Jackson Colin Ray Jackson, (born 18 February 1967) is a Welsh former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. During a career in which he represented Great Britain and Wales, he won an Olympic silver medal, became wo ...

, he appeared with Jackson and

Linford Christie Linford Cicero Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World ...

in the

workout Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic s ...

video ''The S Plan: Get Fit with Christie and Jackson'' in 1993. McKoy had emigrated to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and subsequently obtained Austrian citizenship in 1994. He spent the last years of his career competing for his adopted country and set an Austrian record of 13.14 seconds in the 110 m hurdles.Austrian national records, outdoor
He has since returned to Toronto, where he now works as personal athletic trainer and therapist. He is an older cousin to an athlete in Guyana, Kevin Parker, who runs marathons.

Personal bests

References

Mark McKoy
at Sporting Heroes * Newall, Liz. "You're in great company." ''Clemson World''. Summer 2007. pp. 10–12.

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McKoy, Mark 1961 births Living people Austrian male hurdlers Canadian male hurdlers Austrian male sprinters Canadian male sprinters Olympic athletes of Austria Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic track and field athletes of Canada Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics 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 Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1983 Pan American Games Pan American Games track and field athletes for Canada World Athletics Championships athletes for Canada Black Canadian track and field athletes Clemson Tigers men's track and field athletes Ben Johnson doping case Doping cases in athletics Canadian sportspeople in doping cases Canadian emigrants to Austria English emigrants to Canada Guyanese emigrants to Canada Guyanese emigrants to England Naturalised citizens of Austria Naturalized citizens of Canada Sportspeople from Georgetown, Guyana Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics indoor record holders Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade bronze medalists for Canada World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Medalists at the 1983 Summer Universiade

Athletic career

Personal bests

See also

References

External links