Joanna Hayes’ career has been a watchword in perseverance, having overcome a succession of injuries before being crowned Olympic 100m hurdles champion in 2004. Yet there is far more to Hayes than the average athlete. A champion of work with the young, a coach, a philanthropist with her own foundation and a TV commentator, Hayes is one of the most charismatic and rounded characters on the circuit.
Born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1976 she moved to California as a child. Her father, a former church minister, set up Dome Village, a temporary homeless shelter in 1993 and he now runs a cricket programme in Compton, once one of LA's most notorious suburbs.
Hayes made her mark in 1995, landing the Track and Field News Junior Athlete of the Year award after winning the US junior and Pan-Am Junior titles. Yet her progression was marred by injuries and she landed her first NCAA title, over 400m hurdles, in 1999. Her dreams of appearing at the 2000 Sydney Olympics were shattered after she finished fourth and fifth in the 400m hurdles and 100m hurdles, respectively, at the US trials.
A hamstring injury ruled her out of competing in 2001 and she took two years of the sport from competing, preferring to work at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center Boys & Girls Club as the SMART Moves co-ordinator in East St Louis, Illinois.
She trained sporadically during this period but did not compete until April 2003. 'I was talking to kids every day about following their dreams and I realised I wasn’t following mine, so I returned to training,” she says.
Hayes returned to Los Angeles in November 2002 and set about chasing her Olympic dream. Still competing in both hurdles disciplines she finished second at the US Championships in the 400m hurdles and reached the semi-finals in that event at the World Championships in Paris.
But her career-defining year came in 2004. She finished runner-up in the US Championships in the 100m hurdles to book her place in the Olympic team and then ran a stunning Olympic record of 12.37 to claim gold in a momentous final in Athens. Uncannily, Hayes had sent an email to her friend the day before the final predicting she would win gold in 12.37.
A torn hamstring injury wrecked her 2006 season and further health issues hit her form last year but she has returned in impressive fashion this season and will be seeking to become the first woman in history to claim back-to-back Olympic 100m hurdles titles in Beijing.