Devers Remains on Track : Indoor championships: Olympic champion breaks American record in 60 meters with second-best time in history.

There appears to be no end to Gail Devers’ remarkable, inspirational performances.

Only two years ago she was suffering from Graves’ Disease, a life-threatening thyroid condition, and Devers never thought she would walk again because the illness had attacked her feet and nearly required amputation.

“I said, ‘Lord, just let me keep my feet again,”’ said Devers, who shattered her American record and registered the second-fastest time in history, 6.95 seconds, in winning the 60-meter dash at the World Indoor Championships on Friday night.

The victory capped a sensational sprint double for Devers, who also won the Olympic 100-meter gold medal at Barcelona last year.

“I am living testimony that dreams can come true,” she said.

While Devers was wowing the SkyDome crowd with her sizzling sprint effort, the ugly spectre of positive drug testing, which has undermined track and field in recent years, struck again.

Lyudmila Narozhilenko of Russia, the 1991 world indoor champion in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, tested positive for a banned substance and faces a four-year suspension, a source said.

The unflappable Devers beat world indoor record-holder and defending champion Irina Privalova of Russia out of the blocks in the 60-meter final and held a slight lead the rest of the way.

The winning time broke the U.S. record of 6.99 set by Devers last month and the championship record of 7.02 set by Privalova in 1991, and was just short of the Russian’s world record of 6.92. Privalova finished second in 6.97.

“People don’t think I’m very emotional but I am,” the smiling Devers said. “I am very excited about this.”

Narozhilenko’s illegal substance was unknown, but it was learned that the positive test occurred Feb. 13 at Lievin, France, where Narozhilenko equalled her world record of 7.69 seconds.

She later lowered the record to 7.68 at San Sebastian, Spain, March 2, and to 7.66 and 7.63 at Seville, Spain, March 4.

Narozhilenko was to defend her title at the three-day championships, which began Friday.

In being suspended, Narozhilenko joins a long list of track and field stars who were banned from competition by the International Amateur Athletic Federation within the past five years for alleged drug violations. The group includes Ben Johnson, Butch Reynolds, Katrin Krabbe, Randy Barnes, Mark McKoy, Danny Harris, John Ngugi, Jim Doehring and Mike Stulce.

With Johnson banned for life last week after testing positive for a second time, Bruny Surin has replaced him as the No. 1 sprinter in Canada -- and in the world indoors.

The husky Surin, who was overshadowed by Johnson for the past couple of years, scored a narrow victory in the men’s 60-meter dash.

Surin, cheered loudly by his home crowd, surged across the finish line in 6.50, beating Frank Fredericks of Namibia by .01 second. His time matched the championship record set by Lee McRae of the United States in 1987 and equalled by Surin in the semifinals.

“It’s nice to be out of the shadow, but I didn’t really want him to end it like this ... “ Surin said of Johnson’s downfall.

Stulce since has returned from his suspension and become an Olympic champion and world indoor champion in the shot put.

He and Doehring duplicated their 1-2 finish at Barcelona on Friday night, Stulce winning at 69 feet, 9 inches, and his teammate getting the silver medal at 69-2.

Reynolds, the world outdoor record-holder at 400 meters, also is competing again after serving a painful and distressing 2 1/2-year drug suspension. Friday night, in his first meet as a member of a U.S. team since earning the 1988 Olympic silver medal, he won his first-round heat in 46.37.

Other final winners were Romania’s Marieta Ilcu in the women’s long jump at 22-5 1/4, and Irina Belova of Russia in the women’s pentathlon with 4,787 points.

There were two notable withdrawals from the meet -- Greg Foster, the defending champion in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, and sprinter Merlene Ottey of Jamaica, winner of five medals at the indoor championships.

Foster pulled out because of an undisclosed injury, a U.S. team spokesman said.

Ottey apparently had no intention of competing again although she was listed on the start sheet for the women’s 60-meter dash.

Debbi Lawrence of Kenosha, Wis., smashed her American record by more than 11 seconds in the 3,000-meter walk, clocking 12:20.79 in finishing third in her semifinal heat and qualifying for Sunday’s final.