Who I admire most: David Payne on Lolo Jones and Dawn Harper
Olympic 110m hurdles silver medallist David Payne talks to spikesmag.com about his admiration for world indoor 60m hurdles champion Lolo Jones and Olympic 100m hurdles gold medallist Dawn Harper…
“Dawn and Lolo have two completely different stories, but I’ve known them both since the beginning of my career – like me, they used to place down in sixth and seventh, but are now placing first and second.
We have all followed the same sort of career path.
The first time I came across Dawn was in 2005, at a meeting in Linz, Austria. We had a conversation about how, in two or three years, we would be the best hurdlers out there. She is just such a bubbly spirit and also a Christian, like me. She’s so positive.
We just have a really good chemistry. We pray before our meets. It’s a great vibe.
She can come to me after her races and I can tell her what I think has gone right or wrong.
We talk to each other about our races. I can do that with Lolo, too.
I admire them both so much. I knew them when they were just beginning and they are a great source of inspiration to me. Of course, Allen Johnson and Gail Devers are the two greatest hurdlers of all time and I pay great homage to them but to see people my age doing becoming great athletes is very humbling.
It is great getting to know these great athletes on the circuit and also know we can help each other perform better.”
If you enjoyed this spikesmag.com feature then you might like one of these: