Anderson’s success driven by patience
Published:Wednesday | July 27, 2022 | 12:07 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
IN BATTLING the restlessness that came from being one of the last Jamaicans to start her 2022 World Championships campaign, national champion Britany Anderson said she learnt to exercise patience. Applying patience is also something she has been infusing into her 100m hurdles this season.
That patience, she says, is the main reason she is now the national record holder in the event and has her first senior global championship medal, after mining silver on Sunday, in a wind-assisted 12.23 seconds (+2.5 m/s).
Tobi Amusan won the title in 12.06, while Tokyo Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho Quinn was third, also in 12.23.
Earlier in the semi-finals, Anderson clocked 12.31 seconds to break the national record held previously by former world champion Danielle Williams.
Coming off a 2021 season where she made her first major global final at the Tokyo Olympics, Anderson says she was focused on remaining calm in her approach to the hurdles in 2022.
“That had been one of my biggest fears. Not being patient. That’s why I felt like I always hit the hurdles, because I was always rushing to go over the hurdle and not being more patient with myself,” Anderson said.
“I think I have mastered it by praying a lot. So that has calmed me a lot going into these championships.”
That calmness has seen her become the fastest Jamaican in the history of the event at age 21 in just her second senior season. Anderson says that the lessons from her first experience on the world stage have been the foundation for the success that she now enjoys.
“I think the Olympic Games had shown me how much I could have done. I took all the mistakes that I made at the Olympics and worked on what I needed to work on for these championships and I am here now,” Anderson said
Anderson said that the national record came as a surprise to her as she was not planning to go that fast in her semi-final. The breakthrough, Anderson says, has given her the confidence that she belongs among the world’s best.