Joanna Hayes (USA) at the 2003 USA Championships (© Kirby Lee)
Los Angeles, USA27 yearold Joanna Hayes, the 2003 Pan American Games 400m Hurdles champion never had to look far for inspiration during her two-year break from athletics because of injury in 2001 and 2002.
All it took was a glance on her upper right thigh of at a tattoo of a dove and Olympic rings. Hayes, who is coached by Bobby Kersee, had the tattoo stenciled in black ink as a collegian at UCLA, where she won the 1999 NCAA title in the 400m Hurdles, vowing to add colour to her Olympic rings to signify the dream becoming reality only when she qualifies for the Olympics.
Her bid for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens will start when Hayes opens her outdoor season at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational at UCLA on April 8-10. She also has appearances planned at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays on April 16-18 and the Home Depot Invitational on May 22 in preparation for the U.S. Olympic Trials in July.
Budapest performance brings dream closer to reality
Hayes was among the biggest surprises in the indoor circuit this spring, placing fourth in the IAAF World Championships in Budapest after running 7.83 in the semi-finals to move into a tie for third on the all-time U.S. list.
The performances went a long way to help erase the disappointment of the last two seasons when she was injured and did not compete.
“Once you have it, you never lose it,” Hayes said. “I just wanted to make the team for (the World Championships). It wouldn't have been worth trying if I didn't think that I could do it."
Misfortune at 2000 Olympic Trials
Hayes finished fourth in the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 400m hurdles, missing a berth by one spot, and was fifth in the 100m Hurdles.
A shot at another 2004 Olympics seemed a distant vision in 2002 when Hayes was working full time as a counsellor and drug and alcohol advisor for underprivileged children at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Boys and Girls Club in East St. Louis, Ill.
Hayes couldn't get herself to watch a track meet while rehabilitating from a lingering right hamstring injury and surgery to her right foot.
"It was frustrating," Hayes said. "I had been used to competing, and it was hard to sit back and see other people doing what you had been doing."
Hayes injured her hamstring during a workout in 2001. She rested the remainder of the season but still wasn't able to resume training consistently until the fall of 2002.
Hayes Makes Comeback in 2003
Despite only three competitions in the 400m Hurdles since 2001, Hayes finished second in the USA Track & Field Championships to qualify for the IAAF World Championships in Paris. That was followed by a gold-medal performance in the Pan-American Games in the Dominican Republic.
"With my experience and her talent, it doesn't take a lot of races to know when an athlete is in shape or not," said Bobby Kersee, the husband of Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Hayes' coach since her days at UCLA.
"It's just a matter of getting her technique back and the physical shape would take care of itself. Track and field is mentally tough, and physically you have to deal with the ups and downs and frustrations. I think now Joanna has learned that she is tougher all the way around."
Tattoos Symbolic
During her layoff, the tattoos became even more of a symbol for Hayes in her Olympic pursuit. Hayes said the dove symbolizes the releasing of the birds during the opening Olympic ceremonies.
There are deeper meanings than just the Olympics. Dove is her middle name as well as the name of her late grandmother. One of Hayes' most treasured possessions is a ceramic dove made by her grandmother.
Hayes also has a Biblical passage from the second book of Samuel tattooed on her right thigh: "He maketh my feet like hinds' feet and setteth me upon my high places." Hayes learned the passage in childhood and has used it for inspiration throughout her track career.
Owes success to High School Coach
At Riverside North (California), Hayes was named the 1995 national female high school athlete of the year as a senior. Hayes is among a Who's Who of hurdlers that Coach Charles Leathers has produced.
The list includes Nichole Denby, the national high school record holder and a Texas senior who is expected to contend for the NCAA title, and Nicole Hoxie, a 1996 and 1997 California state high school champion in the 100 hurdles.
Denby, Hoxie and Hayes have the three fastest times in state history in the 100 hurdles. Last year, Ashlee Brown, now a Penn State freshman, won the state title to give North six state champions in the event since 1995.
"He coached us to be great and wonderful," Hayes said of Leathers. "When we go on to college and professional careers, he will always be the first one. We wouldn't be great without him."
Versatility in 100m and 400m hurdles
Hayes has extraordinary range to compete in both the 100m and 400m hurdles. She is tied for ninth on the all-time U.S. list in the 100 hurdles at 12.67 and has run 54.57 in the 400m hurdles.
Still, Hayes has struggled in international competition prior to this winter’s breakthrough in Budapest. She was eliminated in the first round in the 1999 World Championships in Seville the summer after finishing her collegiate eligibility, while in Paris 2003, Hayes made it to the semi-finals despite competing with a respiratory ailment.
When Hayes returns to Cal State Sacramento for the U.S. Trials in July on the same track where her Olympic bid ended in 2000, Hayes believes she is finally ready to take the next step.
"Basically my goal is to run as fast as possible and go from there," she said. "In 1999, I was a lot younger. I thought I was really good coming out of college. It was just a disappointing and bad experience. I am not going to let that happen again."