Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Olympic hurdles champion gains celebrity status
By Pat Graham, AP Sports Writer
Sunday, June 28, 2009 | No comments posted.
EUGENE — Dawn Harper rented a car recently and noticed a gentleman staring at her. He wouldn’t stop.
Creepy? A little.
The 100-meter hurdler sort of flashed her wedding ring, just to let him know she was married.
Still, he stared.
Finally, he came over.
“Are you that Olympic champion hurdler?” he asked.
So, that was the reason for the gawking. Harper’s still getting used to the extra attention after winning gold at the Beijing Games.
“People are looking at me like, ‘I think I know you,’” said Harper, who will compete Saturday in the hurdles at the U.S. championships. “I’m like, ’Yeah, I’m the one.”’
No one knew that much about Harper when she burst across the finish line as a shocking winner.
“This is a kid nobody knew,” said her coach, Bobby Kersee, after the win. “Now she’s an Olympic gold medalist. It’s breathtaking.”
Harper was, indeed, considered little more than a field filler on a night that was supposed to belong to the world’s fastest hurdler, Lolo Jones.
Jones blazed out to a big — and totally expected — lead. But she got tripped up on the ninth of 10 hurdles and couldn’t recover. Harper kept going and scooped up the gold.
She has watched that race over and over.
“I had to get away from it a little bit, because I still cry when I think about it,” said Harper, a 2006 graduate of UCLA.
Only by a fraction of a second did Harper even make the Olympic team.
At the U.S. Olympic trials last summer in Eugene, Harper crossed the line at what seemed like the exact instant as Nichole Denby. Only one could take the third and final spot on the U.S. team.
After a delay, the scoreboard flashed Harper’s name. She won by 0.007 seconds — the blink of an eye.
For being in that position at all, Harper credits a pep talk from her husband, sprinter Craig Everhart.
The 25-year-old Harper was struggling as the trials approached. She had been through knee surgery in February and doctors weren’t certain she’d be mended in time for the trials. A piece of her left kneecap had chipped off, wedging into a weird spot that made it extremely painful to bend her knee.
“Hurdling was impossible,” Harper said.
Her husband kept encouraging her. He even told her to quit her numerous jobs as she split time between being a track coach, tutor for local high school kids and an academic counselor at UCLA.
That way, she could concentrate completely on training with Kersee.
Everhart even picked up an extra job to bring in more money, serving as complex manager at the cramped little one-bedroom apartment they were renting.
Soon after making it back to the track — much more quickly than doctors anticipated — Harper finished near the back of the pack at an Adidas meet a month before the trials. She was heartbroken.
Sitting in the stands after the race, Harper started crying. She was upset about them putting all their resources into her, and she not performing like she envisioned.
Everhart looked at her and simply said, “I believe in you.”
That’s what she needed to hear.
“He had so much confidence in me,” she said.
It carried over to the trials and then to the Olympics, where she turned in a stunning performance.
“My adrenaline was pumping,” said Everhart, who watched his wife from the stands at the Bird’s Nest, breaking his camcorder as he jubilantly jumped up and down. “I believed that she was going to get (the gold) the whole time. I always maintained a positive outlook.”
The next goal for Harper is a spot on the world championships team bound for Berlin later this summer. Harper, Jones, Damu Cherry and Ginnie Powell are all vying for the three spots on the team. Michelle Perry already has a place on the squad after winning the world championships in 2007.
Each day in practice, Harper faces quite the competition — Perry and Powell train alongside her.
“Seeing them improve on things makes you even more motivated,” Harper said. “You have to put your best foot forward. No one is going to give you anything.”
After her Olympic success, Everhart and Harper decided to move out of their cramped quarters and into a roomier place in Marina del Rey, Calif.
“We’re very spacious,” Everhart said.
Yet still very close.
Creepy? A little.
The 100-meter hurdler sort of flashed her wedding ring, just to let him know she was married.
Still, he stared.
Finally, he came over.
“Are you that Olympic champion hurdler?” he asked.
So, that was the reason for the gawking. Harper’s still getting used to the extra attention after winning gold at the Beijing Games.
“People are looking at me like, ‘I think I know you,’” said Harper, who will compete Saturday in the hurdles at the U.S. championships. “I’m like, ’Yeah, I’m the one.”’
No one knew that much about Harper when she burst across the finish line as a shocking winner.
“This is a kid nobody knew,” said her coach, Bobby Kersee, after the win. “Now she’s an Olympic gold medalist. It’s breathtaking.”
Harper was, indeed, considered little more than a field filler on a night that was supposed to belong to the world’s fastest hurdler, Lolo Jones.
Jones blazed out to a big — and totally expected — lead. But she got tripped up on the ninth of 10 hurdles and couldn’t recover. Harper kept going and scooped up the gold.
She has watched that race over and over.
“I had to get away from it a little bit, because I still cry when I think about it,” said Harper, a 2006 graduate of UCLA.
Only by a fraction of a second did Harper even make the Olympic team.
At the U.S. Olympic trials last summer in Eugene, Harper crossed the line at what seemed like the exact instant as Nichole Denby. Only one could take the third and final spot on the U.S. team.
After a delay, the scoreboard flashed Harper’s name. She won by 0.007 seconds — the blink of an eye.
For being in that position at all, Harper credits a pep talk from her husband, sprinter Craig Everhart.
The 25-year-old Harper was struggling as the trials approached. She had been through knee surgery in February and doctors weren’t certain she’d be mended in time for the trials. A piece of her left kneecap had chipped off, wedging into a weird spot that made it extremely painful to bend her knee.
“Hurdling was impossible,” Harper said.
Her husband kept encouraging her. He even told her to quit her numerous jobs as she split time between being a track coach, tutor for local high school kids and an academic counselor at UCLA.
That way, she could concentrate completely on training with Kersee.
Everhart even picked up an extra job to bring in more money, serving as complex manager at the cramped little one-bedroom apartment they were renting.
Soon after making it back to the track — much more quickly than doctors anticipated — Harper finished near the back of the pack at an Adidas meet a month before the trials. She was heartbroken.
Sitting in the stands after the race, Harper started crying. She was upset about them putting all their resources into her, and she not performing like she envisioned.
Everhart looked at her and simply said, “I believe in you.”
That’s what she needed to hear.
“He had so much confidence in me,” she said.
It carried over to the trials and then to the Olympics, where she turned in a stunning performance.
“My adrenaline was pumping,” said Everhart, who watched his wife from the stands at the Bird’s Nest, breaking his camcorder as he jubilantly jumped up and down. “I believed that she was going to get (the gold) the whole time. I always maintained a positive outlook.”
The next goal for Harper is a spot on the world championships team bound for Berlin later this summer. Harper, Jones, Damu Cherry and Ginnie Powell are all vying for the three spots on the team. Michelle Perry already has a place on the squad after winning the world championships in 2007.
Each day in practice, Harper faces quite the competition — Perry and Powell train alongside her.
“Seeing them improve on things makes you even more motivated,” Harper said. “You have to put your best foot forward. No one is going to give you anything.”
After her Olympic success, Everhart and Harper decided to move out of their cramped quarters and into a roomier place in Marina del Rey, Calif.
“We’re very spacious,” Everhart said.
Yet still very close.
The comments below are from users of theworldlink.com and do not necessarily represent the views of The World or Lee Enterprises. Participation Guidelines
Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Note: There is a maximum of 200 words per comment. If you wish to post more, please visit our forum.
Not already registered?
The World welcomes your comments about stories, and we encourage a robust dialogue on this site. All comments must meet reasonable standards of decency and civility.
Please follow these basic rules:
- No defamatory comments about individuals or businesses.
- No deliberately false information.
- No obscenity or racially offensive language.
- No harassment, verbal abuse, threats or personal attacks.
- No information that invades another person's privacy.
- No business solicitations or charitable solicitations.
Comments that violate these standards will not be posted. Users with repeated violations may be banned from future posting.Comments will be approved throughout the day during business hours. After hours and weekend comments may not appear until the following business day. It may take a couple of hours before comments are approved.
The World generally does not edit comments, but we reserve the right to edit any comment that does not meet our standards.
Close Guidelines