Caribbean hurdles year in review

Jamaica's hurdler Delloreen Ennis-London in action 
(Photo by Photo Images)

by Gary Smith
Caribbean Net News Correspondent
Email: gary@caribbeannetnews.com 

Monday,  January 2, 2006

FLORIDA, USA:  In a year when the hurdling events were characterized as probably the most competitive of all events, Caribbean representatives were again among the closely bunched group of athletes.

From the women's 100m hurdles to the men's 400m hurdles, regional athletes gained recognition in the top-ten of the IAAF World Event Rankings.

Ennis-London's medal winning come-back

A remarkable recovery from two knee surgeries and a lower back injury saw Jamaican Delloreen Ennis-London edging compatriot Brigitte Foster-Hylton for the silver medal in the women's sprint hurdles at Helsinki. 

"This medal means a lot to me," the Jamaican said after her photo finish with Foster-Hylton. "I am very happy with this second place and next time God will help me to do even better."

Foster-Hylton, who won silver behind Canada's Perdita Felicien in Paris two-years-ago, had probably her best year ever on the circuit this season. After finishing fourth in the opening IAAF Grand Prix meetings in Europe, the Jamaican, who is being coached by Stephen Francis (coach of Asafa Powell - 100m WR holder) hit rich form to finish second to world champion Michelle Perry of USA, with the most wins on the circuit.

In nine Grand Prix meets this season, Foster-Hylton stepped on the podium seven times, with two of those being on the winners' platform. The performances of the Jamaicans this campaign saw them finishing second and third to Perry in the world rankings - Foster-Hylton (1357) and Ennis-London (1339).

Olympic finallist Lacena Golding-Clarke (1263) at no.13 was just one point ahead of Jamaican compatriot Vonette Dixon, while Haiti's Nadine Faustin-Parker (1219), Cuban Anay Tejeda (1216) and Jamaica's Michelle Freeman (1215) rounded off the top 25.

Blackett still the region's no.1

Despite running the second fastest time as a Caribbean runner this season, Barbados' Andrea Blackett finished the year as the top ranked regional competitor in the women's 400m hurdles. She proved her ranking in the event, by being the only Caribbean runner to reach the finals at the world championships in Helsinki. 

Shevon Stoddart of Jamaica ran the region's year best time at 54.47seconds and she was followed by Blackett (54.79), the IAAF fifth-ranked runner in the event and Debbie-Ann Parris-Thymes (54.96sec).

Struggling year for the Caribbean's best

Maurice Wignall finished fourth at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, but since then has struggled to put a productive race together. However, even though he was less than par in the 2005 season, only six men produced faster times than his. 

The Jamaican sprint hurdles record holder at 13.17sec, managed to finish the year with a best time of 13.20, and even with a less than impressive performance in the finals at the world championships, his efforts in getting there deserve credit. Wignall also kept his place in the IAAF top-ten world rankings, ending the year at no.8.

During the indoor season, only Frances' world champion Ladji Doucouré (7.42) American Allen Johnson (7.49) and Latvia's Stanislavs Olijars (7.50) ran faster than the Jamaican did.

Another leading light in 2005 was Barbados' Ryan Brathwaite, who took silver in the 110m hurdles at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Marrakech. Brathwaite was also the fastest youth over the distant with a time of 13.34. Cuba's Dayron Robles topped the year as the best junior in the event with time of 13.46.

A brave attempt at title defence failed

It was a disappointing year for Dominican Republic's Felix Sanchez, who failed to defend his world title, despite a courageous attempt.

Predicted as a non-starter for the event by many top coaches, the two-time world champion battled through aching foot pains to book a place in the finals in Helsinki. However, as expected, he failed to defend his title after falling to the track just after he had cleared the first flight of hurdles.

Kemel Thompson (JAM) - 48.09, Sanchez (DOM) - 48.24, Danny McFarlane (JAM) - 48.53 and Ian Weakley (48.58) all produced quality times this season.

OTHER RELATED STORIES

Menéndez world record highlights 2005 Caribbean field events review

http://caribbeannetnews.com/2005/12/30/field.shtml 

Caribbean sprinting year in review

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2005/12/28/year.shtml

Caribbean distance year in review

http://caribbeannetnews.com/2005/12/29/distance.shtml 

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