For some it raised concerns over how she would respond to the defeat and whether she could continue her predicted march toward Olympic gold, while others offered suggestions to help out, ranging from things as simple as Cathy Freeman's advice to not change anything to as bizarre as adopting Michelle Jenneke's pre race routine.
The hurdles is an event fraught with danger, in no other
event does the favourite more regularly crash and burn, and that is the nature of
having to clear barriers at top speed, you only have to look as far as the 1992
and 2008 Olympic finals for examples.
Obviously, any athlete that clobbers a hurdle in the Olympic
final won’t win it, but barring that, I have faith that Sally won’t be beaten
to the line.
The faith in Sally is based on three main factors.
1. Her combination of form and experience.
Her main competition includes;
- Jamaican Brigitte Foster-Hylton, who won the 2009 World Championship, and carries the most experience (she was in the Olympic final way back in Sydney)
- American Dawn Harper, who beat Sally for the 2008 Olympic gold medal, and was third behind her at the World Championships last year.
- American Lolo Jones, who was the red hot favourite for gold in 2008 and led the race until she crashed into a hurdle, with Harper coming through for the win and
- American Kellie Wells, who is still unproven at the major championships, but the only athlete to beat Sally this season.
When we look at these past results in combination with
current form, we see where Sally has the edge. As she did last season when she
took out the world championship, Sally once again tops the performance list for
this season, with a best of 12.40, which right off the bat is a time that none of the three Americans or Foster-Hylton have ever matched.
The time Sally ran to finish second behind Wells on Saturday
was 12.59, and that was run in the rain. Jones and Harper haven’t come close to
12.59 yet this season even in good conditions, so even though Harper has shown
ability to win big races, Sally has a clear edge over both on current form.
So Foster-Hylton and Wells loom as larger threats, and Wells
stock no doubt soars on the heels of Saturday’s victory, but she remains
inexperienced and unproven at the majors.
Last year in Daegu she came into the meet ranked #2 in the
world behind Sally, only to clip a hurdle in the semi final, and then fall in
the final (not that it would have mattered, no-one was catching Sally in that race). Foster-Hylton has had an up
and down career (mostly up), but she was run out at the world championship semi
finals last year when trying to defend her 2009 title. She has found form once
again this season though, currently ranked #2 in the world.
That said, Sally leads
Foster-Hylton 3-1 when talking head to head results from the last four Olympics
or World Championships, and has the three best times of the season, (and
5 of the top 6) so she has better form than anyone coming in.
2. Her confidence and mindset.
One of the things that sets Sally apart from (some) other
Aussie athletes is her mindset, she has been quoted as saying that some Aussies
are too focused on just making the team, and not focused enough on winning a
medal. Sally is heading to London
for gold and won’t accept anything less.
The all business, uncompromising attitude is part of what made her successful last season, and
led to her dominating the field in
Daegu. She knows what is required now to get the best from herself and remains
hungry and motivated for the gold medal.
In an interview with the Sunday Age, she stated;
"There is a confidence from being the best… and you
also want to be able to back up what you're portraying. I want to win gold at London and I want everyone
else to know that.''
The mental toughness is critical in the hurdles because it
can all go so horribly wrong in a blink of an eye. One miss step, one
hesitation, and it can all come (literally) crashing down. No-one knows that more than
Sally who crashed out of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games final as a teenager.
It is this mental toughness that has helped her get past that setback in Melbourne, helped her rebound
from a back injury that derailed her 2009 world championships campaign, and helped
her keep her composure for the hurdles when she was disqualified after winning the final of the 100m flat event at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010.
3. Now you’ve made her angry.
In my mind, the best chance the opposition had of upsetting
Sally was to leave her sailing along undefeated leading into the Olympics.
On
the list of an athletes potential pitfalls, complacency rides fairly highly. After a dominating victory at last years world championships, and an
undefeated run for most of this season, it's possible that Sally could have subconsciously taken her foot off the pedal and just coasted along all Bruce Banner like.
On
the list of an athletes potential pitfalls, complacency rides fairly highly. After a dominating victory at last years world championships, and an
undefeated run for most of this season, it's possible that Sally could have subconsciously taken her foot off the pedal and just coasted along all Bruce Banner like.
Not now.
Now they get the Hulk.
After the defeat on Saturday, Sally’s usual bubbly
personality was gone, she shrugged off reporters and immediately shifted into all business mode, and will likely
remain so until the job is done.
If any thought of relaxing at all had been entertained, or
any feeling that the medal might be handed over without a fight after Daegu, it’s gone now.
Sally won’t leave any stone unturned, as she knows that she has to retain the focus and the
mindset to ensure she is at her best on August 7th.
Because if she is at her best, she won’t be beaten.
if only we all could be that focussed....but a great inspiration nontheless....confidence is what sets champions apart from the rest of the field...btw roflmao the reference to Shelley Jenneke, fellow Cherrybrook athlete....priceless!!
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