Kelly-Ann Baptiste bolted into the history books, here in Daegu, Korea, yesterday.
The 24-year-old track star became the first female Trinidad and Tobago sprinter to earn precious metal at a major senior global meet when she struck bronze in the IAAF World Championship women's 100 metres final.
"I knew I always had it in me," an exultant Baptiste told the Express, following her third-place finish. "It was just a matter of delivering the goods. It's a great feeling. I cannot explain it."
Running into a 1.4 metres per second headwind, American Carmelita Jeter pulled away from defending champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce late in the race to earn gold in 10.90 seconds. Fraser-Pryce's Jamaica teammate Veronica Campbell-Brown finished strong to snap up silver in 10.97, edging Baptiste into third spot, the T&T sprinter stopping the clock at 10.98 seconds.
Baptiste knew she was in a fierce tussle, but kept her cool to the very end, overhauling Fraser-Pryce on the line, the Jamaican finishing fourth in 10.99.
After the race, Baptiste sat on the track and looked up at the giant screen, waiting for confirmation that she did in fact secure a medal. When her name finally appeared as the bronze medallist, the celebrations began.
"Besides Jeter, it was really close. I felt like maybe I got second or third, I wasn't sure, or maybe fourth. I really didn't know. To see my name finally appear on the board was a sense of relief."
A beaming Baptiste proudly displayed the T&T flag as she continued to celebrate her global achievement. The bronze is T&T's tenth World Championship medal, and the second earned by a female athlete. In 2009, Josanne Lucas bagged bronze in the women's 400m hurdles.
A World Youth (Under-18) Championship 100m bronze medallist back in 2003, Baptiste is undoubtedly T&T's best-ever female sprinter. Yesterday's third-place finish at the Daegu Stadium was simply confirmation of her "Sprint Queen" status.
The bronze medal, Baptiste explained, has special significance.
"The US or Jamaica always had athletes others could look up to. I always wanted to try to do it not just for me but for the younger athletes. I'm hoping that my performance would inspire the others coming up to know that anything is possible if you just work hard and believe in yourself."
Baptiste is based in Florida, where she trains under the watchful eyes of Lance Brauman. After yesterday's final, the American coach commended his charge.
"It's a great performance for her to get a medal in her first final. I'm ecstatic for Kelly-Ann, very pleased with the way she handled the pressure. She got in there, competed well, and held form all the way through the line. It was a great run."
In the semi-final round, Baptiste clocked 11.05 seconds, into a 1.5 metres per second headwind, to finish second in heat three, behind Jeter (11.02).
The other T&T sprinters, Semoy Hackett and 19-year-old Michelle-Lee Ahye exited in the semis.
Hackett finished fourth in heat two in 11.35 seconds. She was ninth overall.
Ahye, meanwhile, was fifth in heat one in 11.48, the 13th fastest time in the semi-final round.
Ahye, who had clocked a personal best 11.20 seconds in round one, told the Express she is very satisfied with her World Championship debut.
"It has gone beyond my expectations…I made it to the semis."
Now that "big sister" Kelly-Ann has raised the bar, Ahye will surely be chasing bigger goals at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Russia.
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com
By Kwame Laurence