Background

Going into the 2000 Olympic Trials, 400m hurdler Joey Woody was on a roll. Sixth at the World Championships the year before, with a gold medal in the 4x400 to boot, there was little doubt that Joey would make the U.S. team for Sydney. And he almost did, until fading between the 9th and 10th hurdles to end up a heartbroken fourth in the Trials final. Devastated, he struggled badly the next year but then began working with legendary coach Jim Bush. He bounced back in 2002 to finish the year ranked #5 in the world. He capped the comeback in August 2003, coming on strong in the closing meters to bring home a World Championships silver medal in a time that made him the fourth-fastest hurdler in the world that year.

For many years, the name Joey Woody has been synonymous with the Drake Relays, the spring track extravaganza in Des Moines, Iowa, where Woody has won 10 times going back to his high school days. After finishing fourth at the 400m hurdles in 2008, Woody took a lap around the track to a standing ovation, blew kisses to the crowd and said it would be his last appearance at the famed event. "I thought it was time to hand the baton to someone else," he said afterward.