Tough Walker pockets silver

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

DAEGU, South Korea:

Melaine Walker showed all of her championship qualities last night inside the Daegu Stadium, as she battled an injury, a poor lane draw and a motiva-ted Lashinda Demus, to secure a silver medal in the finals of the 400m hurdles at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea; Jamaica's third at the championships.

Running out of lane eight, Walker, who was defending the gold medal she won two years ago in Berlin, produced a gutsy season-best 52.73 seconds, but a stutter before the final hurdle cost her the gold medal, as American Demus won in 52.47.

Kaliese Spencer, who started the race as the world leader in the event, faded towards the end after running most of the race in third place, in the end settling for yet another fourth-place finish in 54.01. Spencer finished in the very same position at the last Worlds in Berlin, Germany.

Surprised

Walker, who was so distraught upon finding out that she had been drawn in lane eight despite a second-place finish in her semi-final, threatened to not show up for the final but in the end surprised even herself, as she powered throughout the entire contest.

"I was so close. I would have got it out of lane eight, just a simple stutter step and then I lost it but I'm still proud. I never thought I would have got a medal, to be honest," admitted Walker, who has endured one of her worst seasons, with an injury being a major factor throughout.

"Some of the times I do stuff, it's unbelievable and I don't know how I manage to. I guess that when it really comes to the nitty-gritty, that's when I rise," Walker beamed.

"I was in lane eight so I asked myself, what else can I do ... I just run and when I came on the stretch and I realised that I was in front, I had so much more momentum, but at that last hurdle I stuttered and lost that gold, but it's still better than nothing at all," she added.

Spencer was a bit disappointed and pointed to a lack of strength - compounded by the fact that she missed a week of training due to her quad/groin injury.

"I'm a bit disappointed, it's bittersweet because I was out of training for a week, but I was able to come here, run the final and came fourth. I would have loved to do much better but it wasn't to be this year, but I'm still giving God thanks for what he has done for me this year, it's been a good season," Spencer said.

Earlier in the day, the Jamaican team of Allodin Fothergill, Riker Hylton, Lansford Spence and Leford Green finished in second place behind the United States, 2:58.82, in a time of 2:59.13 to secure a spot in the 4x400m final, scheduled for today at 7:15 a.m. (Jamaican time). Jermaine Gonzales, who was fourth in the 400m final, is expected to be added to the team for the final.

Jamaica will have a triple threat in the women's 200m final as 100m silver medallist Veronica Campbell-Brown continued her impressive championships after qualifying for the final with a 22.53 win over defending champion Allyson Felix, 22.67. Kerron Stewart, 22.77, and Sherone Simpson, 22.88, both secured their lanes with second-place finishes.