ABUJA -- BYU Sprint Coach, Leonard Myles-Mills representing his home country of Ghana, led his 4X100m team to win the gold medal at the All-African games Oct. 12 with a time of 38.63.
Myles-Mills who anchored the relay team also won an individual bronze medal at the games in the 100m after placing third in 10.03. His top time placed him behind Nigerian sprinters Deji Aliu who smashed the 10-second barrier to win the men's 100m in 9.95 seconds and Uchenna Emedolu who took silver in 9.97.
"I am so glad that finally he is healthy and it couldn't be at a better time," said BYU men's head track coach Mark Robison. "This is the fastest he has run since 1999. It sets him up to be ready for the Olympics, the ultimate in athletic competition."
Myles-Mills, a native of Dansoma Accra, Ghana, has represented his country in international competition since he qualified for the national team in 1998. He placed third that year in the 100-meters at the African Championships in Senegal, which qualified him to compete in the World Cup in Athletics in Johannasburg, South Africa. In 1999, he won first place at the All-African Games, also held in Johannasburg.
He most recently has competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney where he finished ninth place in the 100m semi-finals. Additionally, he ran in the 2003 Track and Field World Championships placing sixth in the 100m men's quarter finals.
Myles-Mills earned three All-American citations while running at BYU from 1996-1999. In his junior and senior season, he won back-to-back National Championship titles in the 100m. He also ran on BYU's All-American 400m relay team that finished third at the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field