Brigitte has eyes on Daegu

Audley Boyd, Gleaner Writer

RANDALLS ISLAND, New York:

BRIGITTE Foster-Hylton may have been feeling a bit down after a disappointing slip at the Adidas Grand Prix last Saturday.

But while the race at the Samsung Diamond League event would have provided a useful gauge, the Jamaican is focusing on defending her 100 metres hurdles title at the World Championships.

"My national championships is not so much on my agenda, considering that I have an automatic spot into the World Championships, it's about getting ready for August now, so my training is not geared to be sharp now. I'm going to be sharp later on in the season," Foster-Hylton said of the upcoming senior nationals, in an interview that followed an unplaced effort at the Icahn Stadium in New York.

She added: "And as everyone knows, I'm coming back from major surgery, so I have work to do and that's what I'm doing."

Due to the surgery and her lack of competition, Foster-Hylton, who has a personal best of 12.45 seconds which had been done in 2003, admits she wanted the race under her belt.

"I would've loved to have run today and get a good time, it'd be a confidence booster going into my championships, but it didn't happen."

Danielle Carruthers (13.04) led a US one-two in the event, beating Kellie Wells (13.06) and Great Britain's Tiffany Ofili-Porter (13.11) in a close finish, in a high-class field.

The USA's Lolo Jones (13.22) was fourth, with Canadian Perdita Felicien (13.27) sixth and Jamaica's Delloreen Ennis-London (15.32) eighth.

The 36-year-old Foster-Hylton pointed out that she never got her normal start and that led to her downfall.

"I just got out a little bit too low from the blocks. Usually I'd pop up and get momentum, I got nothing from the blocks," she said. "Today (Saturday) I just came out too low and fell on my face, pretty much. I'm gonna have to work on that, I have some time to fix it," Foster-Hylton assessed.