Patricia Hall ??

[Twan]

can anyone say who is this young lady ?

she ran the 200 and 400m, and is in the finals for both events tonight. Quite an amazing feat, that after running the 400 in 51.66, several hours later she was able to finish 2nd in the 200M, in a fair time of 23.00.

who is she ?

[Historian]

Reminiscing on Patricia Hall (lol)

can anyone say who is this young lady ?

she ran the 200 and 400m, and is in the finals for both events tonight. Quite an amazing feat, that after running the 400 in 51.66, several hours later she was able to finish 2nd in the 200M, in a fair time of 23.00.

who is she ?

Twan, I know that you’re asking a rhetorical question (lol), so I won’t try to answer except for briefly reminiscing on Patricia at the start of her career. The purpose of this post is to drive home my point that she is no “overnight sensation”! In fact, I expected superb performances from Patricia long before 2013.

I first recall seeing Patricia Hall on the global stage at the 1998 IAAF World Junior Championships in France where she was a member of our gold medal winning 4x400-meter relay team.

The next time I remember seeing Patricia on a major stage was the following year at the inaugural IAAF World Youth Championships in 1999 (Poland). She won the silver medal in the 400-meter hurdles, and was a member of the girls’ 4x100-meter relay team that won the gold medal at that meet (in one of the widest margins of victory I have ever seen by a junior team anywhere)! The anchor for that fantastic relay team was Lisa Sharpe, with Veronica Campbell, Melaine Walker and Patricia being the other members of the team.

Raymond Graham was with that 1999 team as coach.

Pardon my brief trip down memory lane, boss. I think I will stop here (lol).

(Reminiscing Note: The boys’ 4x100-meter relay team, anchored by Omar Brown, won the gold medal at that 1999 IAAF World Youth Championships. I can still picture in my mind our anchor leg runner Omar Brown running down the anchor guy from Japan in a manner similar to what Odail Todd did to the Trinidad anchor at the recent Carifta Games. The Japanese runner was so frustrated at being relegated to silver that he flung the baton to the ground after crossing the finish line.)

[Twan]

well she made the 400M team, finishing 3rd in the finals.....51.13!

[Historian]

Just Saw Your Post

well she made the 400M team, finishing 3rd in the finals.....51.13!

Wonderful, as Patricia is an athlete I’ve admired since her school days. Back in the late 1990s she was one of our feared juniors.

But why on earth did she attempt the 200-meter race as well last night? And equally important, why did her coach allow her to take this risk? What really was the point?

Hopefully, Patricia will stay healthy and improve her times. We need a better 4x400-meter medal than bronze!

[Historian]

USA Has the Stronger Team

I must admit, though, that the USA team is looking quite good at this point. I would be very, very surprised if the USA men and women didn’t do well in the sprints, hurdles and relays in August. Certainly I expect the USA to improve on their showing post-2007.