Athletic Career
Can you believe I used to hate the hurdles? As a teen I thought it was the dumbest thing you could do. 'What normal person would run full speed towards a metal barrier and try to jump it?' Not me.”
I first got into track in grade four at Glengrove public school in Pickering, Ontario. I started in the 100m, 4x100m relay and long jump. I tried the hurdles in grade seven but didn’t really like them.
After grade eight I quit track and field because I was afraid of getting beat in high school. For two years my mother prodded, urged and begged me to go back, scared that I was wasting my potential.
Eventually I listened, and wow, am I glad I did. I earned a full scholarship to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, won a bunch of NCAA titles and I went on to compete at two Olympic Games.
I became the first Canadian woman in history to win a gold medal at the track and field World Championships and have traveled to more than sixty countries.
When I was named Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2003 and picked up major sponsors like Nike and RBC and given the keys to my hometown of Pickering, I thought I was in a dream. When I look back I can count 10 national titles to my name and as of today I still hold both the indoor and outdoor national records.
Not bad for a girl from Pickering who grew up with a single mother in co-op housing, eh? I have come a long way and know anything is possible if we don’t give up and always get up when we fall.
Athletic Career
You can dig deeper into that magical chapter below.
- 12.46s
- 100m hurdles
- 7.75s
- 60m hurdles
- 7.37s
- 60m
- 11.62s
- 100m
- 24.41s
- 200m
- 2x
- Olympian 2000, 2004
- 2x
- World Champion 2003, 2007
- 2x
- World Silver Medalist 2003, 2007
- 10x
- Canadian Champion 2000, 2002–2007, 2009–2011
- 12.46s
- Canadian 100m Hurdles Record Holder
- 7.75s
- Canadian 60m Hurdles Record Holder
- ’98 / ’99
- Canadian Junior 100m Hurdles Champion
- 2001
- Francophone Games Champion
- 2001
- IAAF World Championship – Semi-Finalist
- 2003
- Pan-American Games – SIlver Medalist
- 2004
- World Indoor Champion
- 2005
- World Championships – Semi-finalist
- 2007
- World Championships – Silver Medalist
- 2007
- Pan-American Games – Silver Medalist
- 2009
- IAAF World Championship Finalist
- 2010
- World Indoor Championship – Silver Medalist
- 2010
- Continental Cup – Bronze Medalist
- 2011
- World Championship Semi-Finalist
- 11x
- NCAA All American
- 2002
- NCAA 100m Hurdles Champion
- 2002
- 2002 Big 10 Conference 60m Hurdles Champion
- 2002
- NCAA 60m Hurdles Champion & NCAA Record Holder
- 2003
- Big 10 Conference 60m Hurdles Champion
- 2003
- Big 10 Conference 100m Hurdles Champion
- 2000
- Big 10 Conference Athlete of the Year
- 2001
- Big 10 Conference Athlete of the Year
- 2003
- Big 10 Conference Athlete of the Year
- 2001
- University of Illinois Athletics Athlete of the Year
- 2002
- University of Illinois Athletics Athlete of the Year
- 2003
- University of Illinois Athletics Athlete of the Year
- 2001
- University of Illinois Athletics Record Holder (100mh & 60mh)
- 2001
- US Track & Field Coaches Assoc. Athlete of the Year
- 2001
- Big 10 Conference Indoor Freshman of the Year
- 2002
- Drake Relays Most Outstanding Athlete of the Meet
- 2002
- UIUC Athletics George Huff Award
- 2003
- Drake Relays Most Outstanding Athlete
- 2003
- Academic All-Big 10
- 2003
- Verizon Academic All-American
- 2003
- Keys to the City of Pickering
- 2003
- Canadian Female Athlete of the Year (Canadian Press)
- 2003
- Canadian Female Athlete of the Year (Canadian Sport Awards)
- 2004
- City of Pickering Civic Award
- 2003, 2004, 2007
- Athletics Canada’s Track Athlete of the Year
- 2007
- Drake Relays Hall of Fame Inductee
- 2010
- Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
- 2012
- Named Hello! Canada Magazines 50 Most Beautiful
- 2016
- Athletics Canada Hall of Fame Inductee
- 2016
- Athletics Ontario Hall of Fame Induc
- 2017
- University Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee