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Coach Bolt surprised by Burton

Published:Tuesday | July 26, 2016 | 1:30 PMHubert Lawrence
Collin Reid
Collin Reid photo courtesy of SUpreme Ventures and Courts Jamaica Limited Rushelle Burton hurdles to victory in heat one of the women's 100m hurdles in 13.39 seconds at the IAAF World Under-20 championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Camperdown High School coach, Leacroft Bolt, was pleasantly surprised by the silver -medal performance by Rushelle Burton in the 100-metre hurdles at the recent IAAF World Under-20 Championships.

Though he knew she was in sub-13 shape, Bolt confessed that her national junior record of 12.87 seconds was beyond his expectations. According to the coach, steady preparation paved the way for her performance.

"I thought she'd have gone under 13 seconds, but not so far under 13, like 12.98, 12.97," he marvelled in Kingston a day after Burton had excelled for Jamaica in Bydgoszcz, the Polish city that hosted the Championships.

The time made Burton the joint sixth fastest junior of all time in the 100-metre hurdles.

Asked how Burton, a winner for Camperdown at Boys and Girls' Championships, got ready for the global challenge, he said: "Steady preparation, steady preparation, because we had this World Juniors in mind because this is her last junior age."

Her latest success followed a victory at the Carifta Games and a personal best - 13.28 seconds in sixth place at the National Senior Championships. That was her last race before the meet formerly known as the World Junior Championships.

In Bydgoszcz, text message communication between Bolt and the 18-year-old Burton paid off with a great start in the 100-metre hurdles. He revealed that previous injury issues had made her timid about pushing off the blocks, but the 2013 World Youth finalist conquered the difficulty in Poland.

"At 12-plus she ran 13.0, so I knew she had something in her, something special," he said, describing her as exceptional.

Now she is faster as an Under-20 athlete than 1990 and 1992 World Junior champion Gillian Russell and 2008 World Junior runner-up Shermaine Williams.

Bolt has coached Burton at St Andrew High, where she won

a Boys and Girls' Champion-ships Class Four 100-200-70m hurdles triple and now at Camperdown, and says she loves to hurdle.

"Once you say 'hurdles' it's like her wings spread wide and far," he effused about the young lady who set a Class Three 80-metre hurdles record in 2013.

"She takes to hurdles like a duck to water," he related. "So I'm expecting this kind of performance, but this one really surprised me."