|
The path that took Benita Fitzgerald-Brown to an Olympic Gold medal
involved mixed fortunes and two boycotts. As an eighteen-year old in
1980, Benita qualified for the USA Olympic team when she finished second
in the 100m Hurdles at the Final Olympic Trials in Eugene on 25 June in
a personal best time of 13.11sec. However, she was denied the
opportunity of Olympic competition when the USA boycotted the 1980
Olympic Games in Moscow. Despite this disappointment, Benita continued
to lower her times, improving to 12.92sec in 1982, and to 12.84sec in
1983 when she won the NCAA Championships at Houston on 4 June. Later
that year, Benita competed at the inaugural World Championships in
Helsinki, where she finished eighth in the 100m Hurdles final held on 13
August.
During this period of time the 100m Hurdles event was
dominated by athletes from the Soviet Union and eastern European
countries, who had times significantly faster than Fitzgerald-Brown's
best performances. Benita's fortunes took a distinct turn for the
better when the eastern bloc countries boycotted the 1984 Olympic Games
held in Los Angeles. The only other athlete besides Benita in the
Helsinki final held the previous year who had not been from an eastern
bloc country was Shirley Strong (GB) who had finished 5th, and Strong
was expected to be Benita's major opposition in the Olympic final held
on 10 August. Strong, (in lane 7), had a clear lead at the sixth
hurdle, but Fitzgerald-Brown (lane 4) finished strongly, hitting the
lead at the ninth hurdle, and going on to win the gold medal (see photo above)
from Strong in 12.84sec. Fitzgerald-Brown continued to compete for a
number of years after Los Angeles, but without any major international
representation, failing to qualify for her third Olympic team in 1988. (Ron Casey)
|