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Joanna Hayes (SPOILER ALERT)

Posted on 08/24/2004 11:12:45 PM PDT by AnnaZ

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1 posted on 08/24/2004 11:12:45 PM PDT by AnnaZ
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To: RonDog
Ping!
2 posted on 08/24/2004 11:13:19 PM PDT by AnnaZ
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Joanna Hayes, right, of the U.S. wins the 100 hurdles at the 2004 Olympic Games Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2004 in Athens, Greece. She is hugged by bronze medalist Melissa Morrison, also from the U.S.

Hayes wins 100 hurdles as favorite Felicien falls early in race




Associated Press

Joanna Hayes screamed as she crossed the finish line of the 100-meter hurdles in Olympic-record time. About 90 meters behind her, world champion Perdita Felicien lay flat on the ground, crying in disbelief.

Felicien got off to a bad start and stepped on the first hurdle, tumbling to the ground and taking Irina Shevchenko of Russia with her. All Felicien could do was watch Hayes win in 12.37 seconds, breaking the Olympic record of 12.38 set by Bulgaria's Yordanka Donkova 16 years ago.

After the race, Felicien still couldn't believe what happened.

"I'm devastated," said Felicien, a Canadian who attended the University of Illinois. "I don't think this is going to sink in. I think it's going to take four years for it to sink in. I'm devastated. I was ready to run that race. I was ready to do this."

Olena Krasovska of Ukraine won silver in 12.45 and Melissa Morrison of the United States won her second straight Olympic bronze, in 12.56.

After the victory, Hayes fell to the track before running to the stands to accept congratulations and wrapping herself in the American flag.

"Going in, I felt I was going to run 12.37. I just did what I told myself I was going to do," Hayes said. "I worked hard to be at this point, and any given day I may lose or win a race. I'm not saying I can't be beaten, but tonight I'm the best hurdler in the world."

Before the race, it was Felicien who was ranked No. 1 in the world. She came into the race as the favorite after 37-year-old Gail Devers failed to make it out of her opening heat because of a strained left calf. During the semifinals Monday, Hayes dedicated the race to her fallen teammate.

Felicien walked on the track confident. She walked off in disgust, then sat on the track and watched with a grimace as Hayes and Morrison took their victory lap.

"The first hurdle came up and I reached for it way too much. I probably should have waited until the middle of the race to try to come back. I didn't have a great start and before I knew it I was on the ground and I could not believe it. There's no coming back from that," Felicien said.

The Russian Federation filed an unsuccessful protest after the race.

Hayes, a former long jumper, narrowly missed a spot on the 2000 Olympic team, finishing fourth in the 400 hurdles and fifth in the 100 hurdles. She finished second at the trials this year.

She became the second American to win the event since it went to 100 meters in 1972. That's one more medal than Devers, who has never won an Olympic medal in the event despite being considered one of the greatest hurdlers of all time.

"This is my vision to win the Olympic medal and break the record," Hayes said. "I wanted to win this."


3 posted on 08/24/2004 11:15:34 PM PDT by AnnaZ
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To: AnnaZ

That is totally Awesome!!


4 posted on 08/24/2004 11:20:12 PM PDT by dc-zoo
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To: dc-zoo
I couldn't believe it. Pretty freaky how it happened, too, and she was definitely stunned -- she had had a personal-best run just to qualify.
5 posted on 08/24/2004 11:26:54 PM PDT by AnnaZ
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To: AnnaZ

Finally a first class winner who really deserves it.


6 posted on 08/24/2004 11:35:22 PM PDT by dc-zoo
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To: AnnaZ

cool... a Freeper wins a gold medal.


7 posted on 08/24/2004 11:37:46 PM PDT by ambrose (http://www.swiftvets.com/)
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To: ambrose
I was so excited... she's the only Olympian I have but one degree of separation from. (LOL)

8 posted on 08/25/2004 12:00:10 AM PDT by AnnaZ ("Waaa... make the bad men stop talking!" [ John Kerry is a social clymer.])
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To: AnnaZ

She runs more like Bob Hayes.


9 posted on 08/25/2004 12:15:02 AM PDT by Defiant (The Democrat ticket has Johnarea, an STD (SocialisticallyTransmitted Disease).)
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To: AnnaZ; feinswinesuksass; DoughtyOne; Cinnamon Girl; Tony in Hawaii; Bob J; diotima; gc4nra; ...
And, here is PAPA Hayes, from:

D'Angelo Foundation (& FRiends) honor TED HAYES
on the 10th Anniversary of DOME VILLAGE

Help TED HAYES celebrate the 10th Anniversary of DOME VILLAGE in L.A. - on SATURDAY (12/6/03) ^ | December 6. 2003 | RonDog
Posted on 12/06/2003 8:47:14 PM PST by RonDog

Friends and associates of TED HAYES gathered this aftrernoon in downtown Los Angeles to join the D'Angelo Foundation in honoring Ted on the 10th Anniversary of Dome Village.



Dome Village
10th Anniversary




"Dome Village" founder
(and Honorary FReeper)
Ted Hayes
CLICK HERE for the rest of that thread

10 posted on 08/25/2004 12:39:31 AM PDT by RonDog
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To: RonDog

Hey, wasn't he the guy with the blowhorn
at the last Santa Monica freep?
With the stars and stripes pants? LOL
He's amazing.
Apparently it runs in the family... literally!


11 posted on 08/25/2004 12:45:04 AM PDT by b9 (Stuck in Bob Filner's district. Go Giorgino!)
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To: dc-zoo
See also, from www.usatf.org:

JOANNA HAYES
Events:
100H, 400H
Height: 5-5
Weight: 123
PRs: 100H - 12.67 (2000), 400H - 54.57 (1999)
Born: December 23, 1976 in Riverside, Calif.
Current Residence: Riverside, Calif.
High School: John W. North (Calif.) '95
College: UCLA '99
Coach: Bob Kersee
Agent: Greg Foster
Club: unattached

Career Highlights: 1999 NCAA 400 hurdles champion; 3rd at 1999 USA Outdoor 400H; 1995 USA Juniors and Pan Am Junior 100 hurdles champion.

Hayes narrowly missed a spot on the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team, placing 4th in the 400 hurdles and 5th in the 100 hurdles. Hayes has a history of overcoming injury. She was eighth in the 1998 NCAA 100m hurdles (13.50 - +3.0w) despite running with a strained right hamstring that prevented her from competing in the 400m hurdles. She injured the hamstring while winning the 100m hurdles at the Pac-10 Championships. as a sophomore in 1997, Hayes suffered a hyperextended right knee on the first day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Although the injury kept her from competing in the 100m hurdles, Hayes ran the anchor leg on UCLA's 4x100m relay team that placed sixth (44.76), and she placed seventh (57.92) in the final of the 400m hurdles.


12 posted on 08/25/2004 12:49:35 AM PDT by RonDog
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To: ambrose
From Yahoo! SPORT (Italia):

AP

 
Joanna Hayes of the United States, left, clears the final hurdle on her way to winning the Women's 100 meters hurdles as Canada's Perdita Felicien, re
Mercoledì Agosto 25, 1:42 AM
Joanna Hayes of the United States, left, clears the final hurdle
on her way to winning the Women's 100 meters hurdles

Joanna Hayes of the United States, left, clears the final hurdle on her way to winning the Women's 100 meters hurdles as Canada's Perdita Felicien, rear right, is caught up in the hurdle after stumbling into Russia's Irina Shevchenko, rear left, at the Olympic Stadium during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Tuesday, Aug.

13 posted on 08/25/2004 12:57:32 AM PDT by RonDog
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To: doug from upland; ALOHA RONNIE; DLfromthedesert; PatiPie; flamefront; onyx; SMEDLEYBUTLER; Irma; ...
And, from www.STLtoday.com:
Hurdles blend sweet victory, bitter defeat
Olympics
American Joanna Hayes celebrates her victory Tuesday in the women's 100-meter hurdles. She set an Olympic record by winning in 12.37 seconds.


ATHENS, Greece - They stretched, they leaned, they reached out desperately into the sweet, sultry evening breeze with every last ounce of energy. But American Joanna Hayes and Canadian Perdita Felicien, both gold medal favorites, were going in totally opposite directions.

In the finals of the women's 100-meter hurdles Tuesday, they combined to create human athletic drama: the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

For Felicien, it was the worst moment of her competitive life, a Did Not Finish in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Fifteen meters from the start, one of her ruby-red spiked slippers crashed into the center of the first hurdle, nearly splitting it. She plunged onto the track, dragging down Russia's Irena Shevchenko, who was on her right in lane six.

You could see her reaching ... leaning ... grasping ... all to no avail.

For Hayes, it was the most exhilarating 12.37 seconds of her competitive life. She blazed down the track and was rewarded with an Olympic record and an Olympic gold medal for beating Ukrainian Olena Krasovska (12.45) and American Melissa Morrison (12.56).

She bounded across the finish line, then joyfully reached for the sky.

The 75,000 spectators gasped in one breath, then cheered in another.

Hayes, who spent much of June and July training in suburban St. Louis with Bobby and Jackie Joyner Kersee, danced and pranced and skipped around the track, wrapped in the stars and stripes. With blissful tears streaming down from under her dark sunglasses onto her cheeks, she waved to all the flag-waving spectators and posed for all the photographers who raced behind her.

Unlike other American medal winners, Hayes never bothered to try to be cool and dispassionate. She practically bubbled and floated on her victory lap. She laughed. She cried. Then she laughed some more. She acted like this was the greatest day of her life.

Of course, it was.

"Oh boy, this feels soooo good, better than I imagined," she said, beaming, after the race, clinging to a small American flag in her hand, wearing a larger one like a patriotic shawl. "I know (the USOC) wants us to be low-key and all, but I'm sorry, you only get one chance to run that victory lap. I have no idea if I'll ever have another Olympic moment, so hey, I told myself last night, 'If you get the chance, enjoy it.'"

Just as compelling as Hayes' ecstasy was Felicien's gut-wrenching agony.

Another throng of photographers had hustled to surround Felicien, who trained at the University of Illinois.

They captured her slow-motion, agonizing, uncontrollable stumble.

If it seemed like torture to watch it, this is what it was must have been like inside Felicien's panicked mind:

"Go, go, go ... react ... recover ... You're NOT ... GOING ... TO ... FALL!"

But of course she did.

But moments later, in an amazing moment of character, Felicien stood before a flock of Canadian and American reporters and answered every question. She dipped and soared through the entire spectrum of human emotion. She was stunned, dazed, distraught and defiant all at the same time.

"For my end to come down like this?" she said, shaking her head and wiping a tear from her eye. "That's not my destiny, that's not my fate."

Then, without catching her breath or pausing for any emotional emphasis: "I'm going home and bawl my eyes out. But you better believe they'll have a force to be reckoned with for the next four years. The only satisfaction I'll ever get now is to break the world record. That's what I'm setting my sights on. I'm not going down like this again."

And then she was gone.

Every step of the way, as she slowly walked down the long corridor under the stadium, Felicien was stopped and given a hug by some runner in a different country's uniform.

It reminded you again that the Olympics really are about the joy of competition and the bonds of friendship. It sounds so corny, so saccharine, so melodramatic when you hear it uttered in some Olympic documentary.

But the up-close and personal exposure gives you a warm and hopeful feeling.

Only 24 hours earlier, Hayes had showed exactly what that Olympic spirit means. In her swift semifinal victory, Hayes flew over the final hurdle, her eyes riveted towards the finish line.

She was oblivious to everything but her world, her moment, her race. And as she crossed the line to win, she glanced up at the giant stadium scoreboard. It was the fastest of the day and only 0.10 seconds off the Olympic record, so she erupted in a joyful celebration of smiles, hand claps and fist pumps.

But as she turned back toward the straightaway, Hayes caught a glimpse of German hurdler Kirsten Bolm, who had pulled her hamstring muscle as she was clearing the ninth hurdle and was lying in the fetal position on the edge of the track.

Hayes stopped celebrating and raced to Bolm's side. She held Bolm's hand, rubbed her arm, wiped away the tears streaming down Bolm's face, then whispered comforting words.

"I felt so awful," Hayes said. "Here I was all excited, and there she was laying there hurt."

For anyone who saw this, a natural reaction would be, "Oh, they must be old friends."

"No," Hayes said. "We actually only met a few weeks ago (Aug. 8) at a meet in Munich. But she was such a nice person, and we became quick friends. All I wanted to do was try and comfort her, try to tell her that things would get better."

Twenty-four hours later, as Joanna Hayes skipped on a cloud with Olympic gold draped around her neck, we had all the confirmation we needed that nice guys don't always finish last.

14 posted on 08/25/2004 1:07:27 AM PDT by RonDog
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To: RonDog
From uclabruins.collegesports.com:

 
 

Joanna Hayes won a gold medal in the 100m hurdles.
Olympic Update - August 24

Hayes, McPeak, Youngs increase medal count to 10.

Aug. 24, 2004

Athens, Greece - Hurdler Joanna Hayes and beach volleyball players Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs increased UCLA's medal count to 10 at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Hayes won the 100m hurdles in Olympic record time, and McPeak and youngs teamed to win a bronze medal on the beach. Also in action Tuesday were the USA women's water polo and volleyball teams.

Track & Field
Bruin alumnus Joanna Hayes (1999) captured her first Olympic title on Tuesday after winning the 100m hurdles in a new Olympic Record time of 12.37. Her gold medal is UCLA's sixth of these Games.

For a complete recap, click HERE.



15 posted on 08/25/2004 1:18:21 AM PDT by RonDog
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To: RonDog

cool.


16 posted on 08/25/2004 1:33:27 AM PDT by ambrose (http://www.swiftvets.com/)
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To: AnnaZ

That is wonderful news! Congratulations to Joanna on a tremendous success! Her Dad must be so proud!


17 posted on 08/25/2004 4:37:44 AM PDT by Moonmad27 (Vote for GWB in November - we MUST win.)
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To: AnnaZ; RonDog
Thanks for the post, thanks for the link.

Outstanding!

18 posted on 08/25/2004 4:50:09 AM PDT by PGalt
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To: RonDog; Joy Angela; Ros42; All

I am going to grab as many copies of that BRUIN as I can; save 'em for Mama and Papa Hayes.

NBC4 actually did a little segment on Ted, his wife, the Dome Village and Joanna's Olympian status last Sunday. I was glad I caught that even though I went unconscious during the tape delay of her win last night.

Even if Felicien had not fallen, Joanna would have won. Joanna had the best time and broke the Olympic record. She had the best time in the heat and in the semi, also. She is an awesome young woman and I hope we can meet her soon when she returns to the U.S.A.

She did the victory lap with the flag, too. I heard the USOC was going to ban that. I did not see Joanna's medal ceremony; did anyone else? We may have to count on Papa's video.

Go, awesome U.S. athletes!


19 posted on 08/25/2004 10:50:02 AM PDT by KiloLima (Proud Infidel-American. Any questions?)
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To: AnnaZ

.

TED HAYES = OLYMPIC GOLD-2004

TED HAYES = OSCAR GOLD-2003


..T'was -US- vs THEM at the OSCARS = Results

http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=883


GOD is GOOD

.


20 posted on 08/25/2004 10:56:34 AM PDT by ALOHA RONNIE
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