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Foster-Hylton’s test of time – from the brink of retirement to World champion

Posted by CaribShout on August 20, 2009 at 7:00am

Berlin, Germany - Brigitte Foster-Hylton came to the final of the women’s 100m Hurdles last night as the oldest athlete in the line-up, without a win all season on the international circuit, and with history weighing heavily against a Jamaican victory. Had it been left to her, Foster-Hylton would have retired at the end of last season, frustrated at her third and latest failed attempt to win an Olympic medal. Then, with the World Championships approaching, her participation was threatened by a political impasse. And that’s still not all. During the night before the semi-finals and final, even Foster-Hylton’s dreams were against her. “I dreamt that I got second, I dreamt that I got fourth, I dreamt all kind of crazy things,” she said. “But I didn’t dream that I won.” And what happened next? Foster-Hylton overcame all of those barriers and 10 flights of sticks to become the first Jamaican of either sex to win a World or Olympic sprint hurdles title. And her reaction? “I feel special,” she said. And no wonder. Especially considering Jamaica’s recent history in the event. “We have had some quality hurdlers over the years,” Foster-Hylton reflected. “Delloreen Ennis-London, Michelle Freeman, Lacena Golding-Clarke, Vonette Dixon. We have very good depth of sprint hurdlers but nobody has won a global title.” Nobody until now that is. Nobody until the 34-year-old banker’s wife from Kingston came along to boost the family account by the $60,000 winner’s purse. Yet Foster-Hylton had been ready to quit until she was persuaded otherwise by Stephen Francis, the coach who has had had more medal success so far at these championships than most countries. What a way to celebrate 10 years together. Foster-Hylton was one of the first athletes to recognise Francis’s coaching ability and while others have followed – most notably Asafa Powell and Shelly-Ann Fraser – the sprint hurdler went to him in 1999. “I give it all to my coach because I retired last year after the Beijing Olympics because I was so disappointed at not winning a medal,” Foster-Hylton said. “I really wanted an Olympic medal. He dissuaded me. He said: ‘Brigitte come back, I think you have more in you’. He helped me to stay positive, have faith, and have confidence in my preparation. I’m glad it paid off. “He didn’t have to say much to dissuade me because I have such confidence in him. He just told me: ‘You have more to offer, I want you to hang in there a little bit more. I promise you that you will do well next year.” Foster-Hylton teamed up with Francis in Kingston the year after graduating from Southwest Texas State University in 1998. “I wanted to return home and train because I had just finished university and, at the time, he was willing to coach me,” Foster-Hylton said. He wasn’t charging me any money, I knew he was a fairly good coach and I gave it a shot. It was a gamble but it was worth it.” Francis guided Foster-Hylton to numerous successes but it was a career which, until last night, lacked one of the sport’s biggest prizes. In the 2003 World Championships, she had lined up for the Final as favourite after the top ranked athlete, Gail Devers, hit a hurdle in her semi-final and failed to qualify. But the Jamaican had to settle for silver as Canada’s Perdita Felicien took the gold. With a 12.45 clocking in Eugene in May that year, Foster-Hylton set a national record which stands to this day. In 2006 she recorded the biggest wins of her career prior to last night, taking Commonwealth Games and World Cup gold, but her sixth place in the Beijing Olympics, and her race record this season, did not suggest a World champion in the making. In her seven international races prior to Berlin, Foster-Hylton had finished runner-up in three (Melbourne, Oslo, Lausanne), third in two (Rome, Stockholm), fourth in one (Monaco) and fifth in one (Eugene). Was she worried? Was she heck? “I have been very consistent throughout the season,” Foster-Hylton said by way of addressing her empty win-column. “I wasn’t winning on the circuit but I was right there on the periphery. I had confidence that, if I went out and executed, stayed in control of my race and stayed confident, I would pull it off somehow.” However, even after pulling it off, it took Foster-Hylton some time to realise that she had. With a winning time of 12.51, she was not so far ahead up runner-up Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, from Canada, to be sure that she had won. Once it was confirmed, though, she went berserk, jumping up and down before running excitedly into the arms of Lopes-Schliep. When the Canadian let go, Foster-Hylton fell to the ground and started thumping the track with delight.

Explaining why she hadn’t realised immediately that she had won, Foster-Hylton said: “I knew it was going to be a tough race. The girls have been running so fast consistently all the season so, when I visualised my race, I said: ‘Brigitte, you’re going to power from the start, you’re going to get off that last hurdle, close your eyes, and power through the tape. And, whatever that brings, that’s your best and just be happy with it.’ So my eyes were actually closed because that was what I had programmed in my subconscious.” Foster-Hylton said that she had not allowed the doubts over her participation here to affect her concentration. The Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association had moved to suspend from the team several athletes from the Francis-led MVP squad over their failure to attend a training camp. However, the issue was resolved by the intervention of Lamine Diack, the President of the IAAF, and Francis’s athletes have responded by making a big mark on the championships so far. Fraser won the women’s 100m, Powell the bronze in the men’s 100m and Shericka Williams the silver in the women’s 400m, even before Foster-Hylton came out for the Semi-Finals. Did the successes of her clubmates put pressure on Foster-Hylton to deliver? “Absolutely not,” she insisted. “I had confidence in my preparation.” So will the freshly minted World champion go back to retirement now that she has her gold medal? “I’m not sure how I want to answer that,” she said. “I’m at the top of my game and I don’t know whether I want to retire when I’m at the top of the game - or I might just quit while I’m ahead.”

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