Have I earned your respect yet?

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Dawn Harper, who was considered a surprise winner at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after the favorite Lolo Jones hit the 9th hurdle and crossed the line in 7th place, cannot seem to get any respect from meet promoters, reporters, or anyone who thought that Lolo should have won gold.

  As a spectator I can see why people may think if Lolo had not fallen she would have won!  But, as a hurdler I see it differently because with all do respect to Lolo, the fact remains that she did fall and therefore she could not win.  In the hurdles the person who runs the fastest while technically sound wins.  I like to use the example of the high jump.  How may times do you hear “She only won because the favorite knocked the bar off”.  You don’t hear that, because getting over the bar is what the event is about.  It is the same for the hurdles.  You must clear the hurdles to win or it would be called the 100-meter dash.  So as far as I am concerned, Dawn Harper did not win by default; she earned the title Olympic Champion by executing the best race.

But, my opinion is just that. It was up to Dawn to take care of the rest and that is exactly what she did last weekend when she literally ran away with the National title in a time of 12.36w with the wind just over the allowable!  She executed a perfect race and beat out anyone who may have been considered a “favorite”.  Now, it's Harper who is considered a favorite going into Berlin this summer for the World Championships.

I spoke with Dawn and asked her how she gets past people always asking about Lolo when interviewing her or hearing that Lolo should have won, etc.  She gave me a perfect answer, “I think it is about focusing on yourself and believing that you are capable of winning and you cannot believe that (the fall) is the only reason you won.  You must respect your competitors but believe that you are the baddest thing out there and it’s your race to lose!”

I also wondered if it felt good to sort of shut people up about the Olympics after her dominating performance at the USA Nationals.  Her answer was the normal candid Dawn Harper answer “But of course!  When you always have someone in your ear saying they don’t respect you or your win you think to yourself that this could be the respect me race and for me to go out and run that time it shows that God is good and people have to respect that. And I did it with the pressure on me to prove myself it wasn’t out of the blue”

“The sky's the limit, I wanted to run 12.4 but by running 12.3 it shows that I can just go for it” Then Dawn threw in the quote I use year round, “Go hard or go home.”  Well she went hard, therefore going to home is not an option for her, well except to pack her bags for her first World Championship competition in Berlin, Germany!

Not only is Dawn the 2009 National Champion. she also was the top female performer in the Visa Championship series earning her a $25,000 gift card from Visa.  Which just sealed the deal for Harper who was completely satisfied and “wouldn’t change a thing” about her performance and the Nationals.

To learn more about the Visa Championship Series, The World Championships, and/or to see Dawn Harpers bio go to usatf.org

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