Lopes-Schliep, Henry and Charles off to Beijing
Trio of track and field athletes qualify for Olympics
July 7, 2008
By Brad Kelly
The number of athletes that will represent the Durham Region at the Olympic Games in Beijing next month grew by three on Saturday afternoon.
The Canadian Track and Field Championships in Windsor served as the backdrop for Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, Anson Henry and Tabia Charles to book a spot on the team that will represent Canada from August 8-24 in China.
Lopes-Schliep of Whitby, and Henry of Pickering, blazed a trail on the track, while Charles, also of Pickering, booked her ticket in the long jump.
The first of the three to qualify was Lopes-Schliep as part of a very busy afternoon for the 25-year-old. She was on the track for a 100m semifinal heat at 3:20 p.m. where she advanced to the final, returned to win the 100m hurdles at 4 p.m. in a new stadium record time of 12.78, then raced the final of the 100m at 5:10 p.m., where she won the bronze medal.
And if that weren’t enough, there was a television interview and two medal presentations in between.
Still, she was full of energy by the time she faced the print media.
“It felt really good,” she said of crossing the finish line as the Canadian champion in the hurdles and qualifying for Beijing. The start was a bit of a test of nerves, as a false start the first time the runners stepped into the blocks required a restart.
“I didn’t pop out of the blocks like I normally do, so I had a little work to do. I’m hoping that when I get over to Beijing, I can put my beginning, middle and end together and I’m looking forward to some good things to happen.”
After her lengthy media session, she was swarmed by a huge throng of family supporters just outside of the track, the majority wearing red and white T-shirts in support as the photo ops and celebration continued well after the race.
Henry will represent Canada in the 100m after making the qualifying standard with a clocking of 10.27, which was good enough for third place. He cut it close, requiring a time of 10.28 or better to get to Beijing.
There was no big celebration at the finish line however. Henry thought the times he posted earlier this year were already good enough, and wasn’t sure he needed to run a top time again.
“From what I understood, because how I finished last year at worlds, all I had to do was run a B-standard (10.28) once this year and I’ve done that three times already this year, so I didn’t even know that I needed to do it here as well.”
Charles was the last of the three to qualifying after a third place finish in the long jump in the early evening was enough for her to get to Beijing, needing a top-4 finish to get a spot on the Olympic team.
Despite making the team, she was a little disappointed that she could only muster a best leap of 6.30m in six attempts, as a few tears of frustration followed the competition.
“I came here knowing I could jump my personal best or better,” she said, hoping for a jump in the 6.80- to 6.90-metre range.
“But it’s OK. There are bigger fish to fry with the Olympics coming.”
Athletics Canada will be announcing its track and field team for Beijing on Monday, with the entire Canadian team announcement coming July 23 by the Canadian Olympic Committee.