Down-to-Earth Star

miércoles, 16 de enero de 2013

2009-12 REVIEW. Women 100m/400m Hurdles

Félix Sánchez celebrates his magnificent Olympic victory in London 2012,
at the 400m hurdles event
Michael Regan/ Getty Images Europe
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Sometimes, track and field hurdle events can really be unfair and full of drama. The hero of a whole nation of more than one billion inhabitants, Liu Xiang, the first Chinese man who won an Olympic gold medal in athletics, has endured twice the bitter experience of withdrawing from the Olympic Games without even having the chance to compete. And that infortunate doom was shared this time for the man who had taken from him the world record and the Olympic title, Dayron Robles, who pulled up his hamstring at the 110m hurdles final in London. Fortunately, sometimes the long struggle to be back in an injury-plagued career can get a reward: Félix Sánchez, the man who had dominated the intermediate hurdles event in the beginning of the century, was a shadow of himself during many frustrating years. Often he thought about retirement for sure but, unexpectedly even for his most loyal fan, he lived one of the most emotive stories of the Games in London, when he recovered his lost gold medal eight years afterwards. However, not everything was drama over the barriers. Two of the most astounding performances in this Olympic cycle in any event, were precisely achieved by both 2012 Olympic champions in high hurdles, Sally Pearson and Aries Merritt. The Aussie ran the distance at the World championships in Daegu in 12.28, the best mark in the world in the event since 1992, threatening the impossible record of Yordanka Donkova, while the US athlete ended his stellar 2012 campaign with a groundbreaking world record of 12.80, improving the previous best in no less than 7 hundredths of a second. Although not as spectacular, it was equally noteworthy the big victory of Russian veteran Nataliya Antyukh at the 400m hurdles in London to culminate the hard work of a long career. Antyukh upset big favourite Lashinda Demus, the World champion one year before. As usual, the United States dominated the global rankings between 2009-2012 in all four hurdle events by a large margin, followed by Jamaica and Great Britain. High hurdles kept being the best event among US men overall, as in the former Olympic cycle, with 18 athletes inside the top-50, which tallied a total of 751 points, while their female counterparts ranked no less than 20 athletes but scored less points (690), yet only inferior to the 784 points accumulated for the 200m representatives. See SPRINTS RANKING BY NATIONS

Jamaica won both female hurdles titles at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin to help the country to reach seven gold medals overall, one more than the year before in Beijing. However, the success at the sprint hurdles came in a rather amazing way. All three Jamaican representatives (Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Delloreen Ennis-London and Lacena Golding-Clarke) were 35-year-old by the time of the World Championships and even the fourth placed at the Jamaican trials (Vonette Dixon) was 34. Usually, athletes of such age are thought to be more ready for leaving the track to give way to the younger generation of athletes, rather than for trying to win a medal. Actually, Foster-Hylton was on the verge of retirement after the dissapointment of failing again to win a medal in her third participation at the Olympic Games, yet her coach at MVP Stephen Francis convinced her to continue, stating she still had much to offer. And indeed she delivered in Berlin the best performance of her long career to win the gold medal in 12.51, ahead of Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, who improved from bronze in Beijing to silver, with another of the veteran Jamaicans, Ennis-London, achieving a second medal for her country, while reigning Olympic champion Dawn Harper could only manage a 7th place. Indeed Foster-Hylton had a blind faith in Francis, who helped her recover the confidence she needed to shine again on the track. Both, coach and athlete, had made a long way together since she came back to Jamaica after graduating in Southwestern Texas University in 1999. Asafa Powell and later many others would come, yet Brigitte Foster was the absolute pioneer, the first one Jamaican athlete who took the decision of staying at home to develop a track and field career in a local club, rather than do it in the United States as it was the norm. She thought Stephen Francis was as good coach as any foreigner and together would contribute decisively to the development of professional track and field in the island.

Foster-Hylton and Ennis-London had featured among the best hurdlers in the world for a whole decade but they had only won minor titles: Pan American Games, Commonwealth and World Cup the former and Central American Championships and also Pan American Games the latter. Both had climbed to the podium twice in a World Championship as well, but never to the highest spot of it. US hurdlers as Gail Devers, Anjanette Kirkland, Joanna Hayes, Michelle Perry and Dawn Harper, had dominated in every major final all along that decade. Foster-Hylton had a big chance in 2003 in Paris-St Denis: Devers had stumbled over a barrier in the semi-final and, in the absence of the world number one, the Jamaican was the favourite, in a year she had ran the distance in 12.45. However, Canadian Perdita Felicien ran a huge personal best in the final to get the better of her. Nevertheless, in 2009, Brigitte Foster-Hylton was in the shape of her life and thus, after her big victory in Berlin she also won every one of her seven races, almost matching her PB (12.45) in Zurich.

Melaine Walker at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin
Mark Dadswell/ Getty Images Europe
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On the other hand, Melaine Walker at the intermediate hurdles won in Berlin back to back titles, confirming her victory at the Olympic Games had been no fluke. As it often happens in hurdles events, injuries and accidents over the barriers had taken its toll over quite a few of the favourites. Arguably the three best specialists in the world were out in both the 110m and 400m hurdles. In the shorter distance, two-time World champion Michelle Perry and Susanna Kallur, the woman who had broken the world indoor record during that winter, were battling career- threatening injuries. Moreover, the Swede got to go to the Games but a little too anxious, she crashed out in the first barrier in her semi-final. Also Lolo Jones, the World indoor champion, tripped on the penultimate hurdle in Beijing final when she was on the way to win the Olympic title. On the other hand, at the 400m hurdles, the last two World Championship gold medallists, Jana Pittmann and Yuliya Pechonkina, the latter also the world record holder, could not participate in Beijing due to injury and health issues respectively. Also Lashinda Demus, after coming back from maternity did not make the team in the trials. Even local favourite Xiaoxiao Huang was out for injury. Notwithstanding, newcomers Dawn Harper and Melaine Walker both proved to be worthy Olympic champions. Harper won by a very large margin at the sprint hurdles final and Walker set a new Olympic record to become the second 400m hurdles Olympic champion after Deon Hemmings. Her race was so good that it would had been very difficult for Pittman, Pechonkina and Demus to beat her, had they had the chance of running that final.
After a summer campaign with few victories and only a seasonal best of 54.20, it was uncertain Melaine Walker could win again. At the same time, Lashinda Demus was back to her best and remained undefeated, prior to Worlds. Besides, the woman who had beaten Walker at the 2002 World juniors in her own hometown, kept upsetting her in seniors: In their last match in Monaco, Demus had won in a 52.63 world lead, leaving the runner-up Melaine Walker one second and a half behind. Notwithstanding, when it mattered most, the Jamaican was another athlete. Running even better than in Beijing final, Walker won clearly, setting a new American record (52.42), while Demus had to be content with her second silver at a World Championship. The biggest surprise was Trinidadian Josanne Lucas, who won a remarkable bronze medal in a huge personal best (53.20), in a year she had improved more than 2 seconds in the distance. Unfortunately, she would not reach again this kind of shape. Lucas beat for the bronze medal another quickly-improving Caribbean, Kaliese Spencer, the 2006 World junior champion for Jamaica, in an excellent performance (53.56) in her first global championship at the intermediate hurdles. Tiffany Ross-Williams also ran the distance under 54.00.
Both champions in the hurdle events in Berlin, Brigitte Foster-Hylton and Melaine Walker were battling injuries during the whole 2010 campaign. In the absence of her archrival, Lashinda Demus led the yearly lists with 52.82. In a season with no global championships, Demus ran quite often the flat 400m distance in order to sharpen her speed. Although not the world leader, Kaliese Spencer was the most consistent runner of the year with four straight victories and the overall title at the Diamond League, breaking no less than 6 times the 54 seconds barrier. However, the athlete who made the biggest impression at the distance was arguably Russian Nataliya Antyukh. A well-known 400m dash specialist, with remarkable achievements as the victory at the 2002 European indoors and the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, Antyukh was now having a go over the barriers at 28 years of age. Actually the 400m hurdles had been her first love as a young athlete but by 2001 she gave up completely the event until 2009. In her first year trying seriously the intermediate hurdles, Nataliya Antyukh already qualified for the World championships final, ending up sixth. In her second year she won first the ETC and then the European Championships in Barcelona, breaking the 53 seconds barrier (52.92) and gapping in nearly one second the 2006 continental champion at the 400m dash Vania Stambolova. Just returned from her doping ban, the Bulgarian quartermiler had also chosen to concentrate her efforts at the hurdles, though she had already completed the distance in 54.55 in the past. Anyway Stambolova would be hindered by injuries during those years. Perri Shakes-Drayton of Great Britain would win the bronze medal in Barcelona over other up-and-coming athletes as Czech Zuzana Hejnova and Romanian Angela Morosanu. The defending champion Yevgeniya Isakova ended up sixth. Also coming of age, Muizat Ajoke Odumosu won the Commonwealth Games over Welsh representative Eilidh Child and World finalist in Osaka Nickiesha Wilson of Jamaica. Wilson would strike back getting the better of the Nigerian at the Continental Cup. Odumosu suffered a shocking defeat against Moroccan Hayat Lambarki at the African Championships as well, but she would find how to win in the next two editions of the continental contest. World record holder Yuliya Pechonkina had retired and also did Beijing bronze medallist Tasha Danvers, while Jana Pittman struggled to comeback for several years until she eventually gave up and tried other sports as rowing. Also fighting injuries were both 400m hurdles bronze medallists in Osaka from Poland Anna Jesien and male counterpart Marek Plawgo. On the other hand former great specialists in the event as Sheena Tosta, Tiffany Williams or Isakova were not anymore a factor. Other athletes were trying to take the relay.

Derval O'Rourke, Foster-Hylton and Lopes-Schliep competing at the Memorial Van Damme meet in 2009
Paul Gilham/ Getty Images Europe
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Similarly, at the sprint hurdles, Michelle Perry was never back to her past level and Susanna Kallur could only run three races in four years. A generational change had to come, specially when athletes as Brigitte Foster-Hylton and Delloreen Ennis-London could not hold much longer. In Europe, there was interest to see which athlete was going to be Kallur’s heir in Barcelona. The favourite was perhaps German Carolin Nytra, who had progressed to 12.57 during the season. However, Derval O’Rourke, the first Irish World champion since Sonia O’Sullivan, could not be discounted: she was back to form the past year, finishing an excellent fourth in Berlin in a new national record (12.69) and was well known as a woman who always peaked in the perfect moment. Eventually, Nytra underperformed and had to be content with bronze, while O’Rourke ran a strong race, set a new PB (12.65) but finished again in silver position as four years before. The winner was up-and-coming athlete Nevin Yanit of Turkey in 12.63. Nytra stroke back the following year, winning the gold medal at the European indoors but was troubled by injuries afterwards, the same than O’Rourke. On the other hand, Yanit continued her stranglehold in the continent defending her title in Helsinki, ahead of another talented youngster: Belarus Alina Talay, the U-23 champion in 2011 and also a bronze medallist at the 2012 World indoor championships. Notwithstanding, Nevin Yanit is currently banned from competition for irregularities in her biological passport, in which was described by the IAAF as “multiple doping positive findings” and her European victories are likely to be revised.
After her unlucky race at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games final, Lolo Jones was struggling to make her comeback to the top. In 2009, a collision with Michelle Perry at the national trials left her out of the World Champs, though afterwards in the European circuit she was able to run in 12.47, second best mark of the year. In 2010, Lolo defended successfully her World indoor title over Canadians Felicien and Lopes-Schliep and did well during the summer campaign, being only slightly inferior to Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Australian Sally McLellan-Pearson. However, due to her sciatic nerve problems in following seasons, Lolo Jones had enough with qualifying for the Olympic Games and making the final. On the other hand, Lopes-Schliep led the world lists with 12.52 and won the Diamond League. Then she took a maternity leave but when she was back in 2012 she was far from her best years and did not qualify for London. Meanwhile, Sally Pearson, the silver medallist in Beijing, had overcome the dissapointment of the past season, when a back injury slowed her preparation for Berlin so she could only reached a 5^th place at Worlds. In 2010, Sally won both Commonwealth Games over Canadian Angela Whyte, and Continental Cup over Lolo Jones, warming up for what was going to come in the following season.

Although there had been many outstanding Australian global champions in hurdle events, the last of them Jana Pittman, Sally Pearson’s inspiration had always been the great Cathy Freeman. Sally had been involved in athletics since she was a little kid, when she had to catch two or three buses to reach Gold Coast stadium to train under her lifelong coach Sharon Hannan, and then wait for her single mother to pick her up after she had finished work. Sally was truly committed to the point she never missed a single workout. She trained so hard, she would often ended up vomiting. Besides she was a quite ambitious athlete: only victory counted for her. With this personality, triumphs arrived soon for young Sally: in 2001 she already won the Australian 100m junior title when she was only 14! And two years later she crowned herself World Youth champion in Sherbrooke over the barriers. Although she “only” came back from the 2004 World juniors with a bronze medal, she maintained her stunning progression so she was ready for her senior debut at a global championship in Osaka, where she reached the semi-finals at both 100m dash and hurdles, clocking an impressive 11.14 at the former event. However, for London Olympics, Sally McLellan focused exclusively at the 100m hurdles and the decision proved right as she won the silver medal only beaten by Dawn Harper. Three years later she was ready for the time of her life.

In the same way than Aries Merritt, Pearson had followed a strict diet of vegetables, fresh fruits and fish so she was now 6 kg lighter. Furthermore, coach Sharon Hannan was astonished of her trainee’s improvement in every aspect, during the year. Pearson could rightfully say she was the hurdler with the best technique, the fastest out of the blocks and between hurdles and besides, after working on her speed endurance, she was able to maintain the same speed all over the race. Nobody could stop her now and she would accomplish a victory in 15 out of her 16 races over the barriers that year, only losing the last one in Brussels, where she tripped giving Danielle Carruthers the occasion of winning the Diamond League. http://moti-athletics-100h-w.blogspot.fr/2012/01/sally-pearson.html

Sally Pearson leads Dawn Harper, Kellie Wells and Lolo Jones at the 100m final of the 2012 London Olympic Games
Photo: Associated Press
http://www.taklong.com/landscape/show-landscape.php?No=528767

After the spring campaign in Australia, where the Aussie athlete focused in the dash sprints to sharpen her speed, Sally travelled to Europe to join the Diamond League meetings. By the time she arrived hurdlers as Danielle Carruthers and Briton-naturalised Tiffany Offily-Porter were dominating the season. Already in her second race, in Birmingham, Pearson set an area record (12.48). In impressive fashion, the pupil of Sharon Hannan, kept winning every race to arrive to Worlds as undisputed favourite. In Daegu she lived up to the hype and even exceed it: at the semi-final she went down to 12.37 and in the final she ran in 12.28! It was a mark we had not seen on a track since the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s, when the old East Germany, the USSR and other Eastern European powerhouses used to dominate in the athletic world. Suddenly, the 12.21 that Yordanka Donkova had clocked back in 1988 and was considered one of those impossible records, was within reach. A world behind, US hurdlers Carruthers and Harper won silver and bronze in their best performance to date, both clocking 12.47, followed by Porter and Dektyareva of Russia. Surprisingly, with Lopes-Schliep out for maternity and Felicien and Whyte getting old, Canada still got to put two women in the final just like four years before in Osaka: Phylicia George and Nikkita Holder. The North American nation had successfully achieved the generational change, and they would also have the addition of heptathlete Jessica Zelinka for the Olympic year. Eventually, it was Canada’s best event in the overall ranking for 2009-2012, with six female athletes inside the top-50 and five of them among the 25 best. On the other hand, defending champion Brigitte Foster-Hylton only reached the semi-finals and in spite of her endeavours she could not do much at the Olympics. Deprived of its long time standouts, no Jamaican made the final in the event neither in Daegu nor in London. At the intermediate hurdles the relay was guaranteed with Kaliese Spencer, Champs star Ristananna Tracey and World junior champion Janieve Russell and also in male events Hansle Parchment and Leford Green had got to succeed Wignall and McFarlane. However, at the female 100m hurdles, Indira Spence, Shermaine Williams or Latoya Greaves were not ready yet.

             It was precisely a Jamaican, Melaine Walker, the defending champion at the female 400m hurdles, but it was he compatriot Kaliese Spencer the athlete who seemed on the way of continuing the winning streak from her country at Worlds. Indeed, Spencer was for the second year in a row the most consistent athlete in the event and had eventually broken the 53 seconds barrier just two weeks before worlds, while beating Walker at the Diamond League meeting in London (52.79 to 53.90). Anyway, Walker was always a fearsome opponent in global competitions. On the other hand, Lashinda Demus had a season best of 53.31 but back in June and she had not competed much since. Nevertheless, Kaliese Spencer had to learn Diamond League meetings and World Championships are a different thing. The Jamaican big hope for gold ended up fourth again, a result which in Berlin was promising but now it was dissapointing. Eventually, the final was a rematch of Berlin’s duel between Walker and Demus but this time around it was the US hurdler the one who won the gold medal 52.47 to 52.73, with Nataliya Antyukh a distant bronze, just holding Spencer, Rabchenyuk, Stambolova and Hejnova. For Anastasiya Rabchenyuk of Ukraine it was her second consecutive final at Worlds, in an excellent year in the event for her country, which completed a 1-2 at the European U-23 in Ostrava with Anna Yaroshchuk and Hanna Titimets, with the former winning as well the Universiade.   Yaroshchuk shone as well the following year at the European Championships in Helsinki, with a noteworthy bronze medal for an up-and-coming athlete. The shocking winner was Irina Davydova form Russia, an athlete whose best one year before was just 55.48 but in 2012 had run the distance in 53.87 in her very first race in Sochi, a result which she confirmed and improved in Helsinki (53.77) to win big the gold medal. Another surprise was the silver medal of Czech Denisa Rosolova, in only her seventh race in the distance, setting a PB of 54.24. Rosolova, had been at the long jump event a world junior champion back in 2004 and a European junior gold medallist the following year but she felt she was not good enough jumping to challenge the best so she moved to the hepthatlon with relative success, being Olympic in Beijing. Then she switched to the 400m, winning gold at the 2011 European indoor championships and running the distance in 50.84 during the summer. Yet she thought she could do even better at the hurdles and she was right. Meanwhile, her much more experienced Zuzana Hejnova, finished just out of the medals for the second time in a row at Europeans. A teen sensation, which had been 400m hurdles World Youth champion in 2003, World junior silver medallist the following year and European junior champion in 2005, Hejnova was still looking for her eventual breakthrough among the seniors. She had been in the Olympic final in Beijing but had failed to qualify for the decisive race one year later in Berlin. Then in 2011, she set a huge national record (53.29) at the Diamond League in Paris to defeat Kaliese Spencer but then at Worlds she had ended up only 7^th, before her new dissapointment at the European Champs.
              Coming to the Olympic Games it was Natalya Antyukh the World leader with 53.40, while winning the Russian Champioship, followed by her compatriot Davydova. Rising British star Perri-Shakes Drayton had matched Davydova’s 53.77, in an impressive victory at the Diamond League in London. Lashinda Demus was the only other athlete with a seasonal best under 54.00, from the national trials, where she had qualified along 2011 NCAA champion T’erea Brown and the absolute revelation Georganne Moline, who had started the year with a PB over 57 seconds, and at the national trials was already in 54.33 for second place, losing only to Demus and leaving out of the Games Tiffany Williams and other collegian hopefuls as Cassandra Tate and Turquoise Thompson. The defending Olympic champion Melaine Walker had a seasonal best of only 54.44 yet she had always improved when it mattered most. However this time it did not happen like this: Walker finished a dissapointing sixth in her semi-final and did not qualify for the decisive race. Neither did Davydova nor local hope Drayton. The finalists were Antyukh, Spencer, all three US representatives, Demus, Moline and Brown, the two Czechs, Hejnova and Rosolova, and Joke Odumosu of Nigeria. Demus and Antyukh were the favourites and they lived to the expectations. After an amazing bend, the Russian entered first down the homestretch. Demus came strongly from behind but Antyukh could hold to win narrowly 52.70 to 52.77 of the US representative. It was the first global title for the winner at 31 years of age and only the second Olympic gold in the event for her country Russia, after Irina Privalova’s victory in Sidney. However, Natalya Antyukh became the first woman who had medalled at the Olympic Games at both 400m dash and hurdles. Zuzana Hejnova, eventually won a major medal, running an outstanding race, just ahead of Kaliese Spencer (53.38 to 53.66). The Jamaican, who had peaked too soon in 2011, reached her best form of the year just one month after the Games so she achieved her third Diamond League title and her third straight fourth place at a major competition. Georganne Moline also broke the 54 seconds barrier in the final.

Nataliya Antyukh and Lashinda Demus battle for the 400m hurdles gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London
Michael Steele/ Getty Images Europe
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If there was any hope for her rivals that the 2011 IAAF athlete of the year was going to be less performant during the Olympic season, Sally Pearson started it all earning the gold medal at the World indoor championships in Istanbul, setting a new Oceanian record. However there were athletes really trying to reach her. And if there was someone able to produce the upset, she was likely to come from the US team. The United States had 20 out of the 50 best female runners at the 100m hurdles between 2009-2012, but before the Olympics they had already lost two straight global titles in one of their best events. Could they fix it? Pearson started the summer season in the same dominating fashion than in 2011 with victories in Oslo and Paris in world class timings. Yet the surprise came in London, when Kellie Wells defeated the Aussie hurdler narrowly (12.57 to 12.59). Eventually, Pearson had shown some weakness but she stated quickly she had run a bad race and it would not happen again in London, so she left the track for three more weeks of training. After difficult years, Wells had finally recovered her best form in 2011. In a solid campaign, she had qualified for Daegu, but there, unfortunately, she could not finish the final. One year later, she was again running well and she had made the US team for the Olympics, along with defending Olympic champion Dawn Harper and Lolo Jones. Other outstanding hurdlers in the country had failed at the trials as past global champions Michelle Perry and Joanna Hayes, Daegu silver medallist Danielle Carruthers, sub-12.60 women in 2012 Ginnie Powell and Kristi Castlin and the last three NCAA champions, Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Christina Manning. Nevertheless the biggest US hope for the event was Dawn Harper, the woman who had snatched the Olympic title in Beijing on a pair of training partner Michelle Perry’s shoes, in a moment she lacked sponsorship. Then, at the World Championships in Berlin, the Bob Kersee’s charge had won her semi-final in a remarkable 12.48, but she had unfortunately clipped a barrier at the decisive race, losing her chances. Yet in Daegu she medalled again, winning bronze in a personal best and again for the Olympics she was the national champion and the most consistent athlete in the team.
Harper and Pearson had arrived in Beijing Olympics as talented up-and-coming hurdlers and had won her gold and silver medals as an upset. Four years later they were back again but now as the confirmed biggest standouts of the event and main favourites. In London, Kellie Wells and Dawn Harper won their semi-finals with very good marks of 12.51 for the former and a 12.46 PB for the latter. Pearson did even better, stopping the clock in 12.39. Also made it to the final the third US representative Lolo Jones, Nevin Yanit, the surprising Beate Schrott from Austria and two Canadians: Phylicia George and Jessica Zelinka, the latter more known as a combined event specialist, who had won the national trials in a huge PB of 12.68, which she would improve at the semi-finals and also at the heptathlon event, though losing the race to Jessica Ennis’ amazing 12.54. In the final, as usual Sally Pearson had the quickest star and kept a very strong pace between hurdles. However Harper started to close the gap in the last stages of the race and almost catch her but Pearson still prevailed in 12.35, a new Olympic record, ahead of Harper’s 12.37 (a huge PB), while Wells in 12.48 (also a PB) grabbed the bronze. Lolo Jones, Yanit, George, Zelinka and Schrott followed, in this order. Sally became the first female Australian Olympic champion in track and field since her idol Cathy Freeman’s victory in 2000 in Sidney at the 400m. All three medallists were delighted with their achievements and melted enthusiastically into each other’s arms in a heartwarming display of sportmanship.

	Women100H			Women400H

1	Sally Pearson	AUS	1	Lashinda Demus	USA
2	Dawn Harper	USA	2	Natalya Antyukh	RUS
3	Brigitte Foster-Hylton	JAM	3	Kaliese Spencer	JAM
4	Kellie Wells	USA	4	Melanie Walker	JAM
5	Lolo Jones	USA	5	Zuzana Hejnova	CZE
6	Priscilla Lopes-Schliep	CAN	6	Vania Stambolova	BUL
7	Danielle Carruthers	USA	7	Anastasiya Rabchenyuk	UKR
8	Nevin Yanit	TUR	8	Joke Odumosu	NGR
9	Tiffany Porter	GBR	9	T'erea Brown	USA
10	Phylicia George	CAN	10	Georganne Moline	USA
11	Ginnie Crawford	USA	11	Perri Shakes-Drayton	GBR
12	Perdita Felicien	CAN	12	Irina Davydova	RUS
13	Derval O'Rourke	IRL	13	Denisa Rosolova	CZE
14	Delloreen Ennis-London	JAM	14	Josanne Lucas	TRI
15	Carolin Nytra	GER	15	Tiffany Ross-Williams	USA
16	Tatyana Dektyareva	RUS	16	Anna Yaroshchuk	UKR
17	Jessica Zelinka	CAN	17	Angela Morosanu	ROU
18	Queen Harrison	USA	18	Yelena Churakova	RUS
19	Damu Cherry	USA	19	Nickiesha Wilson	JAM
20	Kristi Castlin	USA	20	Hanna Titimets	UKR

Women100mHurdles Women400mHurdles

Check out the whole TOP-50 RANKING and complete STATISTICS for every event above/*

sábado, 14 de enero de 2012

Sally, Now We Want You to Break the World Record

Sally Peason competing at Daegu World championships
Photo: Michael Steele/ Getty Image Asia Pac
http://www.zimbio.com/

Sometimes we feel frustrated female track and field records are so out of reach. With the exception of the newly introduced disciplines as pole vault, hammer throw or steeplechase, every all-time ranking is led by a woman who is bearing an age she is more likely to be seen keeping company to her grandchildren than around an athletic track. In 12 out of 23 Olympic female disciplines, the world record dates back to the 1980s. In 3 others it was achieved in the 1990s. As Valerie Adams says “things happened in those days for a reason and people did things for a reason. We cannot go back in time and change that.” Therefore we can figure out how awesome Sally Pearson’s 2011 campaign was. For the first time in many years, one of the old-time mighty records was challenged by the Australian athlete, on occasion of the last World championships. In Daegu, Sally clocked a massive 12.28, the best mark at the 100m hurdles event in 19 years, and only 7 hundredths of a second short of the 12.21 world record Yordanka Donkova achieved in Stara Zagora the 20th August 1988. Thus, Pearson placed herself 4^th in the all-time lists, just behind Donkova, Ginka Zagortcheva, the other golden Bulgarian hurdler (12.25), and Russian-Swede Ludmila Engqvist (12.26). In spite of setting both excellent PBs, silver and bronze medallists, Danielle Carruthers and reigning Olympic champion Dawn Harper, were left miles behind by the powerful Aussie.

We can say Sally Pearson reached a new level in 2011. She won every one of her 16 outings, with the exception of the last one, the Ivo Van Damme meeting, where she lost the Diamond League title to Carruthers, due to an unlucky fall. Sally also built up her season flawlessly, peaking at the right time: the World championships. Athletes from countries as South Africa, New Zealand or Australia, whose summer track and field season is held between January and April, have to be careful, because they can reach top form too soon. It is a mistake which has ruined intermediate hurdler L.J Van Zyl’s chances at global championships in August more than once. Sally Pearson used the Australian season to work on her speed and speed endurance, lining up only in 100m and 200m flat races, besides the 4x100m relay, where she helped her country qualify for Daegu. She was not seen over the barriers until late March, prior to the national championships in Melbourne. There she achieved an historic treble, becoming the first Australian doing so since Pam Ryan accomplished it in 1968. However, the ambitious Pearson was not altogether happy, because neither got a personal best at the flat events nor accomplished her target of breaking the national record, which owns former world indoor champion Melinda Gainsford with 11.12, since 1994.

Then she stopped competing and devoted two more months to training. Her coach was especially enthusiast of these workouts. She said Sally had improved in every aspect and expected huge things for the summer. Considering Pearson owns arguably the best technique in the circuit, is also the fastest between hurdles and had worked her speed endurance to the point she could maintain an equal pace from the beginning to the end of a race, it was easy to bet she would not have any match for the upcoming competitions: “She only need to attack the barriers more aggressively and her technique will triumph.” (1) On the other hand, her husband pointed out Sally had followed a strict diet of rice, white fish, and fresh vegetables and as a consequence had lost 6kg. (2) Being much lighter helped Sally out for her remarkable season. The Aussie hurdler was not back in competition until June. After a preliminary local outing, she travelled to Europe. At her first meeting, in Lausanne, she already ran under her 12.50 best, though in windy conditions, and in the second in Birmingham she set a new area record (12.48). Sally kept her nice shape through July and August, winning two more Diamond League meetings. In Daegu, the Aussie was the unanimous favourite to win her first global medal and she proved it throughout the championships. At the semi-finals, she already established a new continental record, running in an awesome 12.36. Then came her groundbreaking display at the final.

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Three people are behind Sally Pearson’s stunning success over the barriers, though the athlete would say she also counts with the valuable contribution of a gym coach, masseur, physiotherapist, biomechanics scientist, sport psychologist and manager Robert Joske. The first one is Anne McLellan, the woman who brought her to this world the 19^th September 1986. She was a single mother who could not afford to buy a car to carry her daughter to the stadium for training, but endured two jobs in order to guarantee the means to her athletic career. From their native Sidney they moved to Gold Coast, Queensland, when Sally was a little kid. Anne was the first person who realised about the immense talent her daughter had for sport, so she asked Coach Sharon Hannan to take her at a state Little Athletics carnival in Townsville, where 12-year-old Sally was competing. Thereafter Anne was the perfect mother for a kid involved in sport: "It is funny because at the moment there are kids in my training squad whose parents are always there every single session watching them train. My mum was never there, which was a great thing. Then you can just go and be yourself without your parents watching over you. She really stayed away and did not put pressure on me ... she just finished work, came to pick me up and took me home to have dinner. She was just a normal mum who did her normal duties and let me do what I wanted to do." (3)

Anne McLellan knew the right person to care for Sally in the stadium was Sharon Hannan and accordingly never tried to interfere in her coaching job. Hannan has assisted to Sally’s rise from a promising little girl to the world class athlete she is now. They have already been 14 years working together. Some say they often fight (4) but respect and mutual trust are always present and results are there. Finally, Kieran Pearson is the other key person in Sally’s life. They met at their senior year at Helensvale State High School and their long term relationship brought to marriage after Beijing Olympic Games. Kieran is not related to sport: he is a maintenance plumber. Due to their different jobs they cannot see each other for months, while Sally is touring in Europe. Yet she had warned him, since the beginning, sport was first and Kieran is as patient as he can be, always supporting her wife’s career. “You have to be selfish if you want to succeed in something”, states Sally. (3)
However, it is Sally Pearson’s huge commitment and personality which rounds it all. She pushes so hard during workouts, she often finish vomiting. Sally hates training but Hannan says she does not remember a single day her charge had missed a session since the days the young athlete had to catch two or three buses to get to the stadium. Teens usually have lot of interests and like to have fun but Sally only had one passion. Cathy Freeman was her inspiration and all she wanted was to become one day an Olympic champion like her. Sally has endeavoured many hours in caring about every single detail of her technique and this is why it is now so flawless. (5) Only Susanna Kallur’s can be compared with hers but the Swede former European champion has been long injured.

Sally Pearson running the 4x100 relay in Daegu World Championships
Photo: Mark Dadswell/ Getty Images Asia Pac
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Sally is highly competitive, a true fighter who believes in her own chances and only accepts victory. Because of her determination she won the 2001 Australian junior 100m title as she was only 14. Two years later, she obtained an extraordinary world youth gold medal over the hurdles in Sherbrooke, which she followed up with a bronze at the World juniors in Grossetto, this time at the dash event. Pearson is a versatile runner who can master several events and Sharon Hannan is glad about that, stating it is important not to specialise too soon and dispose of a sort of different skills. (6) Sally had an unfortunate senior debut at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, stumbling and crashing out of the race, but made amends reaching the semi-finals at Osaka World championships in both 100m and 100m hurdles, besides achieving a huge PB (11.14) at the former event. However, Sally was not glad enough with her performance. (7) She believed she could do much better and she would prove it at the Olympic Games in Beijing. Concentrating in the hurdles event, Pearson got a bullet star and only Dawn Harper managed to catch her. After the confirmation of her wonderful silver medal in a blanket finish, the Aussie burst in tears, then went to an effusive celebration with bronze medallist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, both athletes leaping and leaping together like happy kids.

After her breakthrough, Sally Pearson expected a lot from the 2009 season but an injury back marred her preparation for Berlin World championships, where she ended a disappointing 7^th. That result influenced enormously the emotional Gold Coast athlete, who needed months to overcome her depression. The occasion for resurging back would be the Commonwealth Games in India. Pearson false started at the 100m final, along with Laura Turner, but both were allowed to keep competing. The Australian won the decisive race just to be disqualified afterwards, after England raised a protest. However in her favourite event, Pearson grab unchallenged her first major international title. The brave athlete concluded her participation in Delhi being enrolled in a strange for her 4x400 relay. She struggled to the point she collapsed after crossing the line 5^th, having to be helped out the track by mates and officials. After her busy Commonwealth Games, Sally went to Thailand in family holidays. She was so exhausted she passed all the first day sleeping, but afterwards true to her lively spirit she enjoyed rafting, riding on elephants and visiting one island afer another in the lovely South East Asian country. (8)

Sally’s disqualification at last Commonwealth Games was a rare circumstance in her career. There is a rule Sharon Hannan set in training: simulating competition, if you false start the workout is over. Thus Sally is well-taught in how to start a race properly, specially acknowledging her quick outburst is one of her main goals. After her unlucky 100m final, Sally found herself in the same bus than the English official who had made the protest which cost her gold. She approached him and said there were not hard feelings and wished all the best for the girl who got the bronze medal (after her disqualification). The official was really impressed with Sally’s gesture. As a local newspaper noted, “Sally Pearson entered these Commonwealth Games as a hurdler, but will leave as a personality.” (8) The same sportsmanship was observed by the Gold Coast athlete as she was named best athlete of the year by the IAAF in a controversial decision: “It was a little surprising that I won. Vivian was a three-time world champion and Valerie dominates every time she is out there. She is the role model athlete everyone should look up.” (9) Perhaps Vivian Cheruiyot deserved it more but it is good to see the prize was given to such down-to-earth athlete. She is also an extraordinary inspiration for children, because of her outstanding personality. She is just the opposite of a diva. Sally comes from a humble background and has not changed a bit after her sportive success. She keeps being approachable and human.

It seems a long time since Sally Pearson has been around. Yet she is only 25, still so young to aim for much higher heights. This year, she might still improve on her sensational 2011 season, winning the Olympic gold medal and shattering the old world record. For the moment she has just launched her campaign today in Brisbane, after overcoming in only one week and a half a quadriceps injury. Her winning time was a scintillating 11.25 for the 100m dash. There are many reasons to hope for.