ago.21.2009

Josanne Lucas created history at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany, yesterday, when she claimed a bronze medal in the women’s 400-metre hurdles. In the process, she became the only T&T woman to win a medal at the World Championships. Running out of lane three, Lucas also posted a new national record of 53.20 secs. “This is a major achievement not just for Josanne but for all the women who take part in sport in T&T,” head coach Dr. Ian Hypolite told the Guardian. “She knows what she has done and she is very proud.”
He added that Lucas, who had on Tuesday posted the previous national record of 53.98 to become the first woman from T&T to qualify for the final of an individual event at the championships, was very confident ahead of the race. “She was a litle nervous ahead of the race, which is natural, but I don’t think she doubted she could achieve what she has.” “Ahead of the race she said that moments like this only come once and she was not going to let her moment pass. She has grabbed her once in a lifetime moment and we are all very proud of her,” he added. The gold medal in the event went to Olympic champion Melaine Walker of Jamaica with the second-fastest time in history 52.42 while Lashinda Demus of the USA, took the silver in 52.96.


Manager Dexter Voisin also shared his opinion on Lucas’ achievement. “The members of the team are very happy with what Josanne achieved,” said an elated Voisin, “It was just this morning that we had a team meeting talking about our performances at the championships. “I pointed to Josanne and said We want a medal this afternoon. After the race she came to me and said, ‘Dexter I got it.’” The results were not as favourable for sprinter Kelly-Ann Baptiste, who failed to qualify for the women’s 200m final. Baptiste clocked 22.96, well below her personal best time of 22.60, which she achieved earlier this year, to place fourth in the third of three semifinals. First place went to the USA’s Muna Lee in a season best 22.30 with Jamaica’s Simone Facey, who also clocked a season best time of 22.58, second, and New Zealand’s Monique Williams, third in 22.90.
According to Voisin, this medal would serve as an inspiration for the other member of the team. “We have been having a lot of good performances so far. Now that we have a medal, I don’t see why we can’t get a few more,” he said. T&T’s Olympic silver medal winning men’s 4x100m relay team will be in action in the preliminary round of their event at 2 pm (T&T time) today. The team which is expected to include Olympic silver medallist Richard Thompson, Marc Burn, Aaron Armstrong and Darrel Brown will come up against Japan (38.33), South Africa (39.34), France (38.80), Switzerland (39.29) and Brazil (38.91) in the first of three races.

How they ran

1 Melaine Walker, Jamaica 52.42
2 Lashinda Demus, US, 52.96
3 Josanne Lucas, T&T, 53.20
4 Kaliese Spencer, Jamaica, 53.56
5 Tiffany Williams, US, 53.83
6 Natalya Antyukh, Russia, 54.11
7 Anastasiya Rabchenyuk, Ukraine, 54.78
8 Angela Morosanu, Romania, 55.04
 
Clydeen McDonald -www.guardian.co.tt