Henry family in Pickering waits for word from sprinter son at Olympics

Sprinter may have suffered injury in 100 metres, unsure of status for relay

August 19, 2008

By Al Rivett

PICKERING -- Anson Henry’s family admits it hasn’t been easy staying out of touch with their Olympian son.

Especially since his mother and father, Linda and Haywood, are anxious and concerned to know how he’s feeling since they saw him limp off the track after finishing his semifinal heat in the 100 metres at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium on Aug. 14.

“He started well; his start was excellent, but the last half of the race wasn’t going as well as it should have. After the race, I saw him limping,” said Henry, who noted her 29-year-old son has experienced hamstring problems in the past.

Henry ran his heat in 10.37 seconds to finish fourth. In his quarter-final heat, also on Aug. 14, however, he placed seventh in 10.33, which wasn’t fast enough to move on to the semifinals.

They’re unsure if the injury is significant or if it will keep him from being part of the Canadian men’s 4-x-100-metre relay team that begins qualifying rounds on Thursday.

“I don’t know his condition. I sent him an e-mail to see it he’s OK. I’m just waiting to hear back from him. By the looks of things, he did pull something,” she said.

The Henrys, prior to the Olympics, agreed to limit e-mails and phone calls, all to keep their son firmly focused on his Olympic experience.

“We made an agreement that we don’t e-mail or call each other. We wanted him to just relax and concentrate,” said Henry, who admits she has sent him an e-mail of congratulations on his 100-metre showing. “We talked with each other the day before his race and told him that we’ll be watching. We didn’t want him to have to find time to call. I didn’t want him waiting up on any night to connect with us because of the time change.”

No matter how he fared in his 100 metres, the Pickering family is proud of his accomplishments thus far.

“I am just on top of the world right now. It’s an honour to have a son who can run for Canada at these Olympics. They had all the top runners there and he did extremely well. It’s another dream come true for him.”

Henry says she and her family are crossing their fingers he’ll run for Canada in the relay, with the team currently ranked sixth in the world.

“I know they do have great guys on the relay team,” said Henry of her son’s teammates Jared Connaughton of Charlottetown, Edmonton’s Brian Barnett and Richard Adu-Bobie, of Ottawa. “The guys are very dedicated.”

Henry said there’s also some cause for concern regarding whether Barnett will run for Canada. He’s also reportedly injured and may be replaced on the team for the relay.

The Canadian relay team has experienced plenty of success entering the Beijing Olympics, having won a silver medal at the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The qualifying rounds for the men’s 4-x-100-metre relay go on Thursday, with the final on Friday at the Bird’s Nest.