Perdita Felicien's Olympic dream in jeopardy

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News > Sports > Olympics

Perdita Felicien's Olympic dream in jeopardy

Wed May 07, 2008

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Randy Starkman
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Perdita Felicien's much-anticipated shot at Olympic redemption in Beijing is in danger of being snuffed out by a foot injury.

Felicien, who won a silver medal in the women's 100-metre hurdles at last year's world championships, injured her left foot during training in February. It wiped out her plans to sharpen up the first part of her race during the indoor season and has kept her out of training since.

Her longtime coach, Gary Winckler, was asked today how much time the 27-year-old from Pickering could afford to miss before she'd be sidelined from the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics.

"Probably not too much more," said Winckler. "When Perdita comes back and starts training in November (after a season-ending break), it usually takes five to six weeks before she's fit and able to run.

"If she's able to resume normal training in the next couple of weeks, she might be okay. But I don't have enough information to say whether that's a reasonable expectation or not."

Winckler said the foot injury, originally diagnosed as bruised tissue, was not responding to treatments as they had anticipated. He said that Felicien had been in Vancouver getting a further evaluation from Dr. Bob McCormack, chief medical officer for the Canadian Olympic team in Beijing, and receiving treatment from her trusted chiropractor, Wilbour Kelsick.

"They're going to be doing some testing in the next 10 days and try to come to some conclusion," said Winckler.

Athletics Canada, the governing body for track and field in this country, said today that it anticipates that Felicien will compete in the Olympic trials July 3-6.

Felicien entered the 2004 Athens Games with huge expectations after winning the world outdoor and indoor titles, but her gold-medal aspirations came crashing down when she tumbled over the first hurdle.

-- Randy Starkman is a reporter with the Toronto Star