PERDITA FELICIEN

World Champion Hurdler

Perdita Felicien walked onto the world stage at the 2003 World Championships in Paris. Her goal was to simply make the 100m hurdles final. She accomplished more than that – she won it with a time of 12.53 seconds, becoming the first Canadian woman ever to win an individual World Championship medal.

In March of 2004, in a much-anticipated showdown with hurdling great Gail Devers, Felicien set a new record and defeated her competitor in the 60m final at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She earned six straight wins leading up to the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, where she was expected to win gold in the 100m hurdles. Unexpectedly, Felicien collided with the first hurdle in the finals and did not finish. Although devestated by her mishap, she showed grace and sheer determination to race again. Felicien continues to be one of the top ranked hurdlers in the world.Due to a foot injury, Felicien announced that she will not be competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

She was first inspired to enter track and field by the suggestion of her grade three teacher, Mrs. Arthurs, and she concentrated on the sprints and long jump. The 5’5’’ Pickering, Ontario native began hurdling in her second year of high school, after her club coach, Curtis Sahadath, decided to assemble a set of hurdles. He asked her to jump over the barriers, and was impressed by what he saw. From that day forward, Felicien was trained as a hurdler. She went on to become the most decorated athlete in the history of the University of Illinois, becoming a 10-time All-American, three-time NCAA Champion and a four-time Big 10 Champion.

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COMMENTS FROM AUDIENCES

"What Perdita has accomplished is truly remarkable and is very significant when you consider that she is a world champion in a sport that has a world-wide participation that is second only to soccer."

Andy Higgins, National Coaching Institute Director in Ontario