OLYMPIAN NATALIA HAWTHORN ON ‘BAD LUCK’ AND ‘THE BIG STUMBLE’
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
Natalia Hawthorn is back on track today after a near disaster almost befell her at the Olympics.
The Bracebridge-born, North Vancouver resident is in Memphis with a new goal to meet the 1,500m world championships qualifying time for next July in Eugene, Oregon.
That will be almost a year after Tokyo, where Hawthorn was at the centre of a spectacular “big stumble” and recovery in the heats.
Hawthorn, 26, knew going in to the widely anticipated and witnessed race that it could get “just a little bit messy, because at that level you’re competing with so many women who are so great at what they do.”
And that anything can happen — and it did.
Most top races are that way with so much on the line — especially Olympic gold — she said this week from her temporary Summer Games training base in Spokane, Washington.
But with the world watching Aug. 1 she never expected to race from the outside starting position to the inside lane where all hell broke loose.
Hawthorn was unavoidably at the epicentre of a pileup as she was running neck-and-neck for fourth place nearing the end of the race.
On the bell lap approaching the final 300 metres Hawthorn was on the heels of the No. 3 front-runner rounding the corner driving for the finish line.
Hawthorn says she clipped the heel of her competitor.
That pushed her right, out of her lane, and as part of a chain reaction the domino effect took out two runners behind.
Among them Dutch gold favourite and reigning world champion Sifan Hassan, who went on to win the heat from 11th place and eventually a bronze medal to go along with golds in the 5,000 and 10,000.
But miraculously Hawthorn held up to finish tenth, 4 seconds off her own personal and Olympic qualifying time of 4:04.20. Which is the same time she is chasing again in Memphis to requalify within the year of next July’s worlds.
Hawthorn said “the heats are very tactical,” and her heat set out a little slow, but that she got to near to front of the pack where she trained to be.
She said the first heat wasn’t that fast, but it was “honest.”
But in the second “it got messy, just really on that last lap.
“And I tried to stay calm and composed the whole race, because that mentally stressing can just wear on you and take some energy out.
“That was the focus,” but “there was a lot of clipping going on throughout the race for everybody,” she said.
“I managed to find myself in the front pack leading into the last lap.
“I tried making a pass on the inside, but I was unable to get through and then kind of was forced to stay behind that girl and then the other ladies kind of swarmed around her and caused her to slow down as I was accelerating.
“And I’m sure you all saw the big stumble.”
From Apeldoorn to Bracebridge the world and her family and friends watched back home.
“What happened, I gather, is that I tried to surge on the inside. And I was behind this girl and instead of that girl accelerating … the ladies on the outside passed her and went in front of her. And that forced her to slow down and she slowed down as I was accelerating.
“And in that moment when my leg went up, her back kick kind of kicked my foot down, which cut my stride into like a tiny step. So that just set my momentum kind of flying forward and I had a big stumble and that kind of started the chain reaction.”
So there was Hawthorn, in the biggest race of her life, in the midst of a dramatic collapse on the Tokyo track.
“Oh yeah! I was.”
She has made peace with her unfortunate mis-step and two weeks later is matter-of-fact — even a little philosophical — about it.
“But that is racing,” she says over the phone without sounding a hint of remorse or the feeling of devastation most would.
“It was unfortunate and kind of frustrating. So even throughout that I was, you know, it is what it is and just tried to stay mentally focused and composed and knowing that there’s still lots left of the race. And when those last few hundred came, I couldn’t find that extra gear to hang with those ladies that finished strong down the back stretch.”
Hawthorn said she is satisfied she “just left it all out there and gained a lot of experience
. … It was my first was my first international experience at competing on the track there. So I just wanted to walk away knowing I did everything I could. And I know I left it all out there.”
Despite it all Hawthorn stood that split second test of time.
“Somehow I was able to catch my balance. I was halfway to not fall. So that was good.”
Meanwhile Hassan got up, passed Hawthorn, the rest of the field and won the heat.
That must have been something to be part of and witness even while chasing her?
“Oh my god, yes. It was incredible.”
Oddly, there’s a rule that if you fall you can still move on to the next round — as the other runner behind her did in advancing to the semis.
“It was interesting after (heat) two, just realizing that I had I fallen chances are I may have gotten re-instated.”
She added: “From my perspective on racing, is it can be messy. People fall in races.
“There’s nothing really malicious that went on. If there’s something malicious, a hundred per cent I think people should be given a second chance — if that was the case.
“But I know the way I feel it’s just racing and it’s bad luck sometimes.
“But again I think it’s valuable experience and going forward I learned who to sit behind, where not to and how to position myself.
“It’s all part of racing. You never know what’s going to happen.”
As for her experience as an Olympian, Hawthorn was able to cheer on her Canadian track team-mates while at the track before and after her race, including Julia Stafford and her sister Gabriela DeBues-Stafford who made it to the 1,500 final.
Hawthorn said it was “special” to be in the Olympic Village and be with other athletes from around the world and “definitely inspiring to be around them at the track.
“It created an atmosphere I’ve never had before.”
In the meantime she’s going to continue her worlds pursuit today in her backyard at Tracktown U.S.A. — at the University of Oregon in Eugene — now that she’s still at her “fittest.”
In September Hawthorn plans to come back to Bracebridge for a visit with her dad Ken Hawthorn, her mom Julie Belanger and her family for a couple of week.
Then return to her software job in North Van.
And continue training for the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Email [email protected]
28 years of ‘Local Online Journalism’
Twitter: @muskokatoday, Facebook: mclairmont1
Leave comments at end of story
SUBSCRIBE for $25 by e-transferring to [email protected]
Or go online to https://muskokatoday.com/subscriptions
