Storyline: Track and field star, Kendra Harrison, didn’t make the cut at the U.S. Olympic Trials but, soon thereafter, she shattered a 28-year old world record. Written by Srihari Kurup, Bangalore, India.
What comes once every four years? Leap Year, World Cup football, American Presidential elections…. But the first thing that comes to mind is the Olympics. Dubbed as the greatest sporting spectacle in the world, the Olympics is the embodiment of dreams and aspirations, hard work and toil, and triumphs and sacrifices.
Courtesy: socialmediatoday.com
Usain Bolt, the biggest star at this Rio Olympics, is on course to complete a hattrick of Gold Medals in the short sprints. In the run up to the Olympics Bolt said: “…the Olympics – the whole world knows what that is. It is the greatest spectacle on earth.”
One of the toughest event to compete in track and field is the 100m/110m hurdles for women and men, respectively. The highly technical and competitive event has ended many an Olympic dream. Gail Devers, Lolo Jones, Liu Xiang, and many other overwhelming favourites have seen Olympic dreams shattered just before the finish line.
It was a complete departure from the norm that one woman dominated the 100m hurdles this season. Kendra Harrison, the 23-year old American, had staked her claim as the overwhelming favourite for the Olympic crown. All through the 2016 season she has been setting scorching times, outrunning other top athletes by huge margins.
Courtesy: vaughtsviews.com
At the Prefontaine classic, in Eugene Oregon, she came tantalizingly close to breaking the 28-year old World Record, missing out by three hundredth of a second. Any other country would have given her a direct berth to Olympics purely based on form. In the US, though, preseason form counts for nothing as the Olympic selection boils down solely on the performance at the US Olympic Trials.
The US Olympics Trials is usually considered harder than the Olympics itself, considering the array of talent that lines up for track events. The women’s 100m hurdles is even harder.
Kendra was odds-on favorite to win the race, but it didn’t pan out as expected. Blame it on the rains that made it harder for the athletes or blame it on competition but, for whatever reason, Kendra succumbed to pressure. She lost out on the only race that mattered all year, finishing a lowly 6th, well outside the cut for Olympic selection.
Devastated at not making the Olympics, Kendra wanted to give up. Preseason wonders count for little when you have to watch the sport’s greatest spectacle on a television set at home. Kendra’s coach hadn’t given up on her, though. Together they decided the only way to feel better is to look ahead. Kendra decided to set a new goal–to eclipse the world record which has stood for decades.
Courtesy: www.thegleaner.com
Two weeks after the heartbreak at the Olympic Trials, Kendra took to the track in a field filled with Olympic medal prospects. She was more focused and determined this time around.
As the gun went off, Kendra raced with the wind in a near perfect race, breezing through the finish line far ahead of the chasing pack. But the time board at London Olympic Stadium showed she had finished more than three tenths of a second outside the world record.
As it turned out, though, Kendra had dipped so low that the sensors failed to detect her passing the line. The clock recorded the time for second place Brianna Rollins instead.
The 28-year old record had been shattered! But as the revised time came up, Kendra had her back to the clock. When the whole stadium rose to applaud, Kendra realized she had done it!
Kendra had asserted emphatically to herself–and to the rest of us–that one bad race is not the end of the world. The key to greatness lies in the will to keep going.
When Brianna Rollins, the new favourite at the 100m hurdles, goes for glory at Rio she might not have to worry about chasing Kendra Harrison on the field. But, for sure, Rollins will be racing Kendra’s record.
Kendra might be the missing the Olympics, but it’s the world that will miss her more.
