Here’s what Dawn Harper thinks about coronavirus postponing the Tokyo Olympics
Olympic champion Dawn Harper-Nelson had heard whispers that the 2020 Tokyo Games might be postponed due to the spread of COVID-19.
But when an International Olympic Committee member announced Tuesday that he expected the Olympic games would be pushed back until 2021, the 2008 Olympic 100 meter hurdle champion was nonetheless surprised.
“It’s really hard to believe. I’m in shock,’’ said Harper-Nelson, a graduate of East St. Louis High School. “With everything going on and all the the events around the world being canceled, we kept hearing and about the possibility of the Olympics being postponed. But these are the Olympics and it’s been around for so long. We didn’t think it would happen.
“When the announcement was made today, it was shocking.’’
Harper-Nelson also made it clear that her comeback attempt at age 35 will not be deterred.
She announced her retirement from international competition in 2018 to start a family. By April of last year, she and her husband Alonzo Nelson Jr. had become the parents to a daughter, Harper Renee.
Retirement lasted barely a year. Harper-Nelson returned to the track in November — often with Harper Renee in tow — while announcing her intention to compete at the Olympic trials. Her husband, also a former world-class track athlete, is her trainer.
The world’s former No. 1-ranked hurdler, Harper-Nelson also won a silver medal in the 2017 World Championships in London and bronze medal in Daegu, South Korea, in 2011. She is a four-time winner of the Diamond League championship. No other 100-meter hurdler has won the championship more than once.
“We’re going to compete in the Diamond League championships. I’ve won it four times, why not five?’’ Harper said. “The first meet was scheduled for April but it was canceled so we’re looking at hopefully mid-May depending on how the situation is and what is being held.
“The goal is to get ready for and to be at my best for the Olympics in 2021.’’
A 2002 graduate of East St. Louis, where she won six state championships in the hurdles under coach Nino Fennoy, Harper attended UCLA where she was a six-time All-American.
In addition to winning the Olympic Gold Medal in 2008. Four years later, she earned silver in the London Olympics. She missed out on her second gold by just .02 seconds, but became the first American female hurdler to medal in consecutive Olympics.
Harper’s top time of 12.37 seconds in the 100 meter hurdles still ranks as one of the top 15 in history.
This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 6:28 PM.
