HURDLER JOSANNE Lucas missed her opportunity to compete in last year’s World Championships in South Korea due to injury, but the persistent Tobagonian has now set her sights on attaining a spot in this year’s London Olympic Games.
Lucas was forced to miss the World Championships after she failed to fully recover from an Achilles tendon injury she sustained in late 2010.
However, the 2008 Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) champion is in high spirits and training toward sealing an Olympic spot.
“It was hard for me to make that decision (not to go to Daegu).
“That injury was a major setback and it rendered my season virtually non-existent. It was either I push myself to the end of the season or seek medical attention and rehabilitation, and be ready for the 2012 season. Because the bigger goal will be the Olympic Games,” explained Lucas.
The 2009 Berlin women’s 400-metre hurdles bronze medallist revealed that she is back in training and overjoyed that her injury is now behind her.
“Training has been going well. Being injury free and being able to train at the intensity that I should be able to, all because I am healthy. I want to be healthy because you can’t perform if you are injured,” continued Lucas.
The 2003 Pan American Junior silver medallist admitted that missing the World Championships was a significant learning experience for her. She accepted full blame for her tendon injury and was certain that such physical errors would not be made in the future of her athletic career.
Lucas indicated that it was simply because she tried desperately to train despite her injury.
“I trained at high levels for the previous World Champ-
ionships and for 2011. I pushed myself too much and did not listen to my body. The lesson to me was to listen to my body and prevent injury when possible.”
The Lambeau Government Primary/Bishop’s High graduate became the first local athlete to receive a medal at a senior global meet when she raced to bronze (53.20 seconds) in the women’s 400m hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany.
Lucas, who also graduated from Auburn University, admitted that her Berlin performance instilled a great amount of motivation in her.
“It made the drive even greater before the 2009 season. I had to make many sacrifices to attain that (result). To know the sacrifices we made with the limited resources I had, created a longing and greater drive. Most importantly was improving my time to run 52 seconds, which is no easy task,” added Lucas.
The Tobagonian also hailed fellow compatriot Kelly Ann Baptiste on her 100m bronze medal performance at last year’s World Championships. This achievement saw Baptiste become the second local woman to medal at World/Olympic level.
“Simply amazing, especially to do it in her event. She has had a long career starting as a junior and has made the transition to the elite and professional stage,” Lucas concluded.
Source: www.newsday.co.tt