Torri Edwards of the USA winning her quarter finals (© Getty Images)
Prior to 2003, Torri Edwards was just another name in the deep pool of American sprint talent. Last August, the cheerful Californian left Paris as the most heavily decorated athlete of the World Championships.
'I think I ran well last year," Edwards said, reflecting on her 2003 campaign where she was the fourth fastest of the year in the 100m and the third fastest in the 200. "All I need to do is build on that, and I think I can have as successful a year as I did last year, if not more."
Her road to sprint elite began quietly in Pomona, California, where as a young competitor, she looked up to the feats of World and Olympic champions Gwen Torrence and Jackie Joyner Kersee. A self-professed average sprinter in high school, she made an immediate impact as a freshman at the University of Southern California when she won both sprint titles at the 1996 PAC-10 conference championships.
Two years later she improved to 11.11 and 22.88, finished fourth in the 100m at the US championships, and earned her first national ranking from Track & Field News.
Sydney breakthrough
Yet her break on the big stage came at the 2000 Olympics. With a pair of fourth place finishes at the Olympic Trials, Edwards made the trip to Sydney as a member of the relay pool, but after injury forced Inger Miller from the start lists, Edwards wound up competing in both sprints and the 400m relay. She reached the semi-finals in the 200, and won bronze on the relay.
"It was a little bit overwhelming," she remembers. "It was kind of a last minute thing. I kind of felt as if I was just thrown into it. I think it was a good experience for me, I think it helped me for future championships." She finished the year with 11.06 and 22.65 bests.
John Smith trained...
A member of John Smith's high profile HSI training group since 1999, Edwards spent the next two seasons polishing her technique and gathering big race experience.
"It's a good experience for me," she said of the southern California-based group. "I get to train with other world class athletes. From the beginning they've been giving me advice about running in Europe, and just competing at the top level. It's helped me a lot in making that transition from college to professional."
World Indoor bronze
That transition seemed to reach fruition in 2003. She got the year rolling with a bronze medal in the 60m at the World Indoor Championships, before ending her domestic outdoor season with a pair of runner-up finishes at the national championships.
Rome's Golden Gala in mid-July would provide a memorable evening for the 26-year-old. In a span of less than two hours, Edwards dashed to two personal bests: 11.05 in the 100m to finish third and a 22.28 win in the 200m.
"I wasn't very surprised, because I had been working really hard, and I was just waiting for it to happen. But it was exciting for me because the 200 is not my best race, so it was just great for me to run that fast. The 200 is not really my best race."
Paris - three medals
Leaving Rome as a force to be reckoned with, Edwards didn't disappoint at the World Championships the following month. Running from lane one, she claimed the silver medal in the 100m in 10.93, her first legal sub-11 clocking, and relieving herself of a huge psychological burden.
"I think it was a big barrier for me just to finally break that 11 seconds," she says. "I feel like I can do it now, and the next time I go out there to run, I can be more relaxed and just concentrate on winning the race and placing in the top three, and not worrying about the time. I think I was more excited about the [Rome] 200 than I was about breaking 11 [seconds]. I knew that eventually I would run under 11 flat."
Her inside lane assignment could have been a drawback, but she didn't let it bear too heavily on the way she ran her race.
"I was a little bit disappointed when I found out that I got lane one, but I had nobody else to blame but myself," she said, explaining that having a runner on either side of you can help "pull" a faster run. "I just felt like whether it was lane one or lane four, you just have to deal with it. It's all just a straight line. I decided it really wasn't going to affect me."
She added a bronze medal in the 200 (22.47), and anchored the US quad to a silver in the 4x100m relay, leaving Paris with three medals around her neck.
"I was very, very excited with my outcome at the World Championships," she said. "It was just great after all your hard work during the year and have it pay off at the right time. I was just really excited."
Edwards doesn't foresee any major changes in her training regimen in 2004.
"I'm pretty much doing the same things I did last year. I feel, 'hey, it worked for me last year, so keep doing the same thing.' I just think that each year, as I'd done in the past, I'll continue to progress. I think I just need to focus on the same things I did last year: just getting stronger and working on my form and just running my own race and putting it together."
100m - "it's my favourite race"
Her priority, she said, if not a primary one, will be on the shorter sprint. "Only because I think it's my favorite race. But I also want to do well in the 200. I want to be known as one of the best female sprint doublers. So I' m putting just as much focus on the 200 as I am the 100."
Edwards' attitude has changed dramatically since she first appeared on the international scene four years ago. Just over the course of last year's outdoor season, her growing confidence and comfort level was markedly noticeable.
"After years of doing this, I feel as though I can kind of relax now," she said. "I feel like I've kind of made it to where I need to be, and I can just relax and focus on more specific goals likes winning the Olympics and things like that."
A light indoor season
Despite her success in Birmingham last year, Edwards is planning a light load indoors. "I'm just using it as a training tool," she said. "Working on my form, my blocks, using it to help my outdoor season." Edwards plans to compete in the three-meet Golden Spike Tour in the US, along with the national championships, and, if she qualifies, a possible appearance in Budapest for the World Indoor Championships.
Marion Jones
First on the agenda is the 60m dash at the Verizon Millrose Games on February 6, where she'll face Marion Jones and her highly publicized return to competition after last season's maternity leave. While some would argue that Jones's absence helped spotlight Edwards in 2003, she said she's happy to see Jones return.
Apparently used to queries about Jones, Edwards said, with a dash of laughter, "I welcome everybody back. For me, I don't think it'll be any different with here there or not there, I'll still be just as competitive. I'm still focused on what I want to do this year."
Then there is the Kelli White modafinil case, which could influence the Paris results. "Right now I'm focusing on the new year and becoming Olympic champion. I can't dwell on the past. I'm going to focus on what I need to do this year."