HURDLING TO THE TOP
FOR SPRINT HURDLER JASMIN STOWERS, THE US OLYMPIC TRIALS WILL BE JUST AS TOUGH AS RIO
WRITES STUART WEIR
JASMIN STOWERS threatened to take women’s sprint hurdling by storm last year. When she won the Doha 2015 Diamond League race in 12.35 – just 0.14 outside the world record – not too many people outside of USA knew much about her. When she added Diamond League victories in Oslo and London, everyone had to sit up and take notice.
Looking back on that win in Doha, she said: “I didn’t see it coming, but I had run 12.39 in Jamaica so I knew that running in the 12.30s was possible. I was nervous because I was racing against Sally Pearson and Dawn Harper, so I knew I had to run fast to beat them. So the only thing on my mind was run – and I ended up running that time.”
Stowers started running when she was 11. Eventually, because she was tall her coach suggested she try the hurdles. She ran well, the coach said she could be a good hurdler and she specialised from then.