Perhaps the winning time wasn’t an Olympic record but the decibel level certainly was, as Faní Halkiá exceeded all pre-competition expectations - except perhaps those of her local Greek fans - and stormed to a gold medal with a 52.82 clock. It was just off the Games record of 52.77 she had set in Sunday’s semifinal. Obviously, it was the fastest winning performance in Olympic history.
Halkiá and defending World champion Jana Pittman of Australia, running on Halkiá’s immediate outside, matched each other, hurdle for hurdle, through the top of the final curve until the Greek pulled away resolutely after the eighth of the event’s ten barriers.
It capped an amazing year for the Greek hurdler, who entered the season with a best of only 56.40. Her seven competitions this year produced an amazing five national records.
The 25-year-old former high jumper had battled injuries for the past three years before finally returning to action this past winter. “It was tough on me, because it felt like starting from scratch,” she said of her comeback. “When you love what you do, then you can really make it. I started all over and made it.”
Pittman had lost valuable training after her knee injury and subsequent surgery three weeks ago, and the 21-year-old was unable to keep pace, fading to fifth with 53.92.
“The moment I got injured, my chances of winning went right out the window,” Pittman admitted. “I’m disappointed not to get a medal, but I gave everything I had.”
Ironically, the tightly-configured inside lanes provided the other medals in the contest, as two-time European champion Ionela Tîrlea-Manolache of Romania (53.38) outpowered Tetyana Tereshchuk of Ukraine (53.44) for the silver and bronze, respectively.
The year’s fastest performer, Sheena Johnson of the US, was assigned to the extreme outside lane and had most of the action behind her until it was too late. When the late-race situation became obvious, there was too little time for the US Trials champion to respond, and she finished fourth in 53.83.
World-record holder Yuliya Pechonkina of Russia, running just outside of Pittman, stayed with the lead pair for the initial two hurdles before fading steadily throughout the race. By the end, she had downshifted to a slow jog and finished last in 55.79, her slowest clocking since the Grand Prix Final three years ago.
In front of Pechonkina, in sixth and seventh, respectively, were her teammate Yekaterina Bikert (54.18) and Brenda Taylor of the US (54.97).
EG
