Krystin Lacy winning her 100m heat in Sherbrooke (© Christian Landry)
With an engaging smile that would not look out of place on a billboard poster American sprinter Krystin Lacy stood before a handful of the world’s press thursday night moments after beating her personal best 100m time.
The fact she had run 11.43 seconds - which also beat the championship record, set earlier by her American teammate Jessica Onyepunuka - had sparked this delightful encounter although it is readily apparent she has not yet learned the arrogance that befalls many of the sports leading lights.
She admitted to being nervous, this being only her third or maybe fourth interview. But at the same time she was in no hurry to end this contact with the reporters held spellbound by her delightful nature. Cautiously she revealed her raison d’etre in Sherbrooke.
“Of course, it’s to win the championship and break the record,” she declared before it was delicately pointed out that she had indeed beaten the championship record in the first round.
“I am kind of surprised (with the time) I have been working hard but in a way I am not surprised. When I ran I had to go soon because I was trying to do enough to make it to the semi finals but I did and it went well. I knew she (Onyepunuka) would be competition when I came here but I don’t think either of us expected to run that fast today. I think we are both kind of surprised.”
In the early rounds it is customary for the leading sprinters to shut down in the final thirty metres or so in order to conserve energy. Lacy however ran through the finish without hesitation. It never crossed her mind to ease up.
“No because I really don't have a good finish - I have a good start - so I can’t afford to slow down,” she admits.
It is quite apparent upon meeting her that for all intents and purposes, she sees herself as simply a teenager from Dallas who happens to run fast. In fact, were it not for her USA uniform, one would have a difficult time believing she was an athlete on the verge of winning a world championship medal.
Tall and slender she could in no way be described as muscular. Stand her up against senior level sprinters of the same level and she would certainly be dwarfed. A year or two from now when she has further matured one can only imagine how fast she will run and in which competitions she will be a chasing medals. Her dream is to “go all the way”
Lacy has been running track for ten years following somewhat in her father Kenneth’s footsteps. He was a sprint hurdler in high school and finished fourth in the Texas State high school championship once. Like many in Texas he wound up playing football and turned professional with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. Today he is her coach.
“Actually when I started off I wasn’t really all that good,” Lacy remembers of her very early years. “I would get disappointed with my time. I was in 3rd Grade about 9 yrs old and I ran probably a 13.9.”
Despite the precocious talent she has revealed this season she has another two years of academics at Dallas’s Skyline High school where she is focusing on sciences. After school she says she would like to attend either the University of Texas in the state capital of Austin or Louisiana State University.
Skyline is the institution, coincidently, where five time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson started his career. Lacy’s heroes, though, are all past Olympic 100m champions: Marion Jones, Florence Griffith-Joyner and Wilma Rudolph. Although there is this slight connection to Johnson she has never really talked to him.
“Not personally but on Tuesday I talked to him when he was at the track but I haven’t really talked to him about Skyline or anything like that,” she says. “We have pictures of him all over the place (at school).”
She is asked if she thinks the school might one day post photos of her. “Hopefully” she responds with that nervous smile.
The final should be a race between the two Americans and Trinidad’s Kelli-Anne Baptiste who has run 11.48 seconds this season. Jamaicans Samantha Henry and Sherline Duncan have also looked strong though they were among those who eased up at the finish of their first round heats. With the track yielding some fast times we may see many more times in the 11.40’s. Lacy is asked what she will run in that case.
“Oh man at least I am going to have to go 11.30 but I will try 11.2,” she giggles at the statement, shakes hands with all the journalists and goes off on her merry way.
Paul Gains for the IAAF
