Thursday, June 28, 2012

“I’ve been called a trailblazer,’’ says Felicien. “I have difficulty with that word. But it is a nic




Canadian Women s 100m hurdles athlete, Perdita Felicien at a press conference at Foothills Athletic Park, where the Canadian Track and Field Trials for the Olympics will be held, in Calgary, Alberta Tuesday Photograph by: Stuart Gradon
"I think,'' reckons 10-time Canadian women's 100-metre hurdles champ, rain pelting down outside the media conference tent set up inside indianapolis airport car rental Foothills Athletic Park. "I've mellowed as far as being able to talk to my competition. A few years ago, I wouldn't be able to be here and smile, laugh, ask (Priscilla Lopes-Schliep) how her daughter is, things like that.
"Competition, that's what sport is all about,'' says Nikkita Holder, nonplussed. "It makes you a better athlete. You have to hone yourself more. You've got to work that much harder, to prove to yourself and other people that you deserve to be there.
There are, amazingly, a half-dozen in the hurdles field boasting Olympic-calibre times. Felicien, Holder, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Lopes-Schliep, Phylicia George, Angela Whyte and the wild card in the deck, heptathlete champion Jessica Zelinka.
"There's going to be some heartbreak and there's going to be some joy,'' empathizes Athletics Canada head coach Alex Gardiner. "Regardless of who makes it and who doesn't, this is something extra special, that's going to be remembered for a long time by track and field fans and the athletes themselves.
"For me, the fascinating part of this story is that each one of these women runs the event differently. Perdita is very technically efficient; she's focused like no one's business. There's no one more powerful indianapolis airport car rental than Priscilla Lopes, great flat speed. Phylicia George is tall, she's probably the fastest pure sprinter out there; capable indianapolis airport car rental of running 11.25, maybe 11.15. Her challenge is get the steps down faster between hurdles. Nikkita Holder is quick, quick, quick, built perfectly for this event. Angela Whyte has been in an Olympic final before.
For Felicien, such enviable depth was something she never could've envisioned immediately after exploding into the public consciousness by winning gold at the 2003 World Championships in Paris. PAGEBREAK
"I won my first title 12 years ago, oh my God ... it was the dawn of time,'' she blurts. "I was the lone hurdler on the world stage then. If you'd told me 'One day there are going to be six of you with A standard vying to go to the next Olympics' I'd have been like 'Yeahhhhhh, right ... I don't foresee that happening.'"
"I've been called a trailblazer,'' says Felicien. "I have difficulty with that word. But it is a nice one. I think what I'm most proud of is that I've been around this long; I'm still here. People have two-year careers, five-year careers. I've had 10. That's a blessing.
"When we land on the line, yes, everyone indianapolis airport car rental has that fire; has that passion,'' says Lopes-Schliep, returned to competition after becoming a mom. "You line up because 'Yes, I want that.' But off the track ... I guess that what keeps us Canadian. Or humble. Or however indianapolis airport car rental you want to put it. We know when we line up we've gotta be serious but off the track we have fun.
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Canadian Women s 100m hurdles athlete, Perdita Felicien at a press conference at Foothills Athletic Park, where the Canadian Track and Field Trials for the Olympics will be held, in Calgary, Alberta Tuesday Photograph by: Stuart Gradon, Calgary Herald       E-mail this Gallery Print this Gallery indianapolis airport car rental Share this Gallery
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