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The Flame's toughest customers
Sharon Hannan has been
coaching Sally McLellan since Sally was 12 years
old. Over the journey they have had their tough times but the last
couple of weeks have been some of the most difficult.
McLellan had an outstanding Australian and European season, taking
all before her in the highly competitive event. But on Tuesday
August 4, what seemed to be a little niggle in her back blew into
an acute injury requiring significant medical intervention and time
away from training.
“It happened on Tuesday August 4, she did some
awesome sessions on Monday and Tuesday and on Tuesday night got
back to the hotel for physio treatment," Hannan said.
"When she went to get up off the table her back went. (The
medical staff) taped her up to stabilise her so she could sleep and
treated her again the next day.”
A couple of days of rest ensued with McLellan restricted to pool sessions, in which she trained suspended to take the pressure off her back. On Friday a planned gym session included, at the request of the medical team, a couple of run-throughs at the neighbouring indoor track facility.
“We decided on four and she did three. They were all fine, but on the fourth she went to take off, it wasn’t even fast, and then she said it was sore,” Hannan said.
“We had to walk about 40 metres to where our bags were and we didn’t even make it. She just crumpled down on the floor and we couldn’t get her up or roll her over. It was horrible.”
Hannan has seen such things before with husband Peter, Sally’s strength and conditioning coach, requiring a few ambulance rides for a similar injury over the years and so didn’t panic, but she and the medical staff were concerned to see the star hurdler in such pain.
Another couple of days in the pool and a bus ride to Berlin to the team hotel and Sally was making incremental improvements but Hannan was fearful that it wasn’t going to be enough. Two days after her arrival in Berlin and under a week out from the heats, things started to look dire.
“Last Thursday I think might have been the worst day," Hannan said.
"We did some run-throughs and she wanted to hurdle, desperately wanted to hurdle. She did one rep over five and she pulled up a bit sore so I took the hurdles off the track and there was a bit of a battle of wills. She struggled with that, she just wanted to know that her body was going to be able to get out there and do that.”
At that point a crisis meeting between team
leader Eric Hollingsworth, experienced team coach
Craig Hilliard, Hannan and McLellan took place, to
decide how to handle the situation going forward and whether or not
to announce the injury to the media.
After a lengthy discussion McLellan decided that she really didn’t
want to let the opposition know that she was struggling because in
such a tight race it could give them a mental edge. The decision
meant that the Beijing silver medallist would just have to battle
through and hope that her body improved with the treatment and that
she could at least come out and make a final.
Hannan said she was pleased that Athletics Australia had supported
McLellan's decision.
“She definitely didn’t want any excuses at all. She just wanted to
go out there and not have people saying 'woe is Sal'. She
just wanted to go out and give it her best shot,” she said.
Hannan said the injury was an unusual
one.
"The medicos think she has an unusual facet joint, but she’ll
probably get some sort of pictures when we get home and see exactly
what’s going on. They don’t think it’s a bulging disc or anything
like that, they just think that it’s the facet and that maybe she
has unusual anatomy there. If that’s the case we need to be aware
of it and maybe change the way we do her strength program,” she
said.
Sally was quiet around the team as the
championships got under way. Training, getting treatment and
resting were the order of the day while her Flame teammates spent
time at the track supporting the other Australians in action or
seeing some of Berlin.
Hannan said of Sally’s time in Berlin:
“She didn’t get on the track until Thursday just gone when she did
a couple of run-throughs. Friday she wanted to push the barrow a
little bit, she wanted to know that she was going to be able to
hurdle, so Friday we actually did two sessions. We did the first at
lunchtime and went out again in the evening. That’s why when every
other Aussie that was here went on a tour, the only one missing was
Sal,” she said.
Completing a full competition warm up that evening, it seemed as
though things were back on track: “She looked good, she looked
really sparky but apparently the medication helps.”
As Tuesday drew near McLellan and Hannan were
feeling more confident that they were ready to race but they knew
the inability to train had hurt her.
“It was the two weeks of virtually nothing,” Hannan said, and they
just hoped that her technique, raw speed and fighting attitude
would get her through.
Winning her heat on Tuesday evening in a time of 12.82 McLellan started well and just did what she had to do to get through. She was disappointed with the time but relieved to have ticked at least one box, and drew only Harper in the semi-final so both athlete and coach could sleep a little easier.
In Wednesday’s semi-final she placed second to
Harper in a far better time of 12.66 but had to run hard to get it.
Lining up for the final later that night with a nervous Hannan
watching from the stands, McLellan lined up in lane two looking
focused. She came out of the blocks quickly but perhaps not as fast
as her signature lightning-quick starts. Gaining ground, she hit
the lead by the third hurdle but was caught by eventual winner
Brigitte Foster-Hylton of Jamaica. Fading slightly after clipping
the last hurdle McLellan finished fifth in a time of 12.70.
Hannan wasn’t shocked at the result.
“It was a struggle,” she said.
“The last couple of weeks have been really tough and we didn’t want
to tell anyone.”
Proud of her charge’s achievements Hannan
said: “She’s just quite a remarkable athlete."
Hannan was confident even after her defeat in Stockholm that she
was in gold medal form and that the injury robbed her of an
opportunity.
“It was definitely there to win, even if we could have recovered
from the first little back spasm after a couple of days and then
got back into it then she’d have picked up and wouldn’t have lost
so much, but it was nine days before we could even get on the track
and do a run-through.”
It was a stellar effort from McLellan, her coach Hannan, and the medical team in Berlin who helped Sally get to the start line in the best shape she could. The result was deserving of praise for the grit and determination showed. Sally may not have a medal in her bag this time but she has the knowledge that she can line up in any final and make an impact despite a preparation she would rather forget.
Chances are the 100m hurdles at the 2010
Commonwealth Games will be a real showdown with Jamaicans
Foster-Hylton and Delloreen Ennis-London taking gold and bronze
respectively in last night’s final.
But in a fight like that you want to be on the toughest
competitor; I’m backing Sal.
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