Perdita Felicien leaps to the top
Broadcast Date: March 22, 2004
There are no hurdles left to overcome on Perdita Felicien's path to the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The native of Pickering, Ont. is at the top of her game, having won the 100-metre hurdles at the 2003 World Championships and the 60-metre event at the 2004 World Indoor Championships. But, as she tells CBC Radio's Mary Lou Finlay in this March 2004 interview, she'll have to work to quell the pressure that comes with winning and figure out how to stay on top.Perdita Felicien leaps to the top
• Born in 1980, Perdita Felicien began her athletic career in high school, where her event was the 100-metre dash. She later switched to hurdles and won an athletic scholarship from the University of Illinois. While in school she was named U.S. collegiate female athlete of the year.
• Felicien headed to the 2004 Olympics in Athens as one of Canada's best hopes for a gold medal. But those hopes were dashed in an instant during the final 100-metre race when her foot clipped the first hurdle, sending her tumbling to the track. "This isn't marbles in playschool," she said after it happened. "There's no do-overs. After four years, it's over. This is it. Boom. Before you know it, you're on the ground."
• An injured foot kept Felicien from competing at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, but she stepped into another role by becoming a hurdling commentator for CBC.
Perdita Felicien leaps to the top
Medium: Radio
Program: As It Happens
Broadcast Date: March 22, 2004
Guest(s): Perdita Felicien
Interviewer: Mary Lou Finlay
Duration: 7:17
Last updated:
April 29, 2010
Perdita Felicien leaps to the top.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: April 29, 2010.
[Page consulted on Feb. 13, 2012.]