I SAW A STILL FRAME OF JANA’S HEAT WHICH EVEN ALLOWING FOR PARALAX ERROR INDICATED SHE WAS VERY CLOSE TO :eek: DROPPING HER TRAIL KNEE DOWN THE SIDE OF THE HURDLE - THAT WOULD OF COURSE CONSTITUTE A DISQUALIFYING OFFENCE. NOT SURE WHICH HURDLE IT WAS.
HOPE FOR HER SAKE SHE KEEPS HER TECHNIQUE CLEAN AND HER MIND CLEAR IN TONIGHT’S FINAL.
THE VIDEO I SAW OF HER HEAT, IN WHICH ENGLISH WOMAN NICOLA SANDERS ALSO COMPETED (IN LANE 1) ALSO MADE ME THINK THAT IF SANDERS GETS A GOOD LANE DRAW FOR THE FINAL AND IF SHE EXECUTES A TECHNICALLY CLEAN RUN, SHE MAY BE ABLE TO EXERT ENOUGH PRESSURE ON PITTMAN TO MAKE THIS AN INTERESTING RACE.
THERE WAS ANOTHER ENGLISH ATHLETE, DANVERS, WHO ALSO LOOKED IMPRESSIVE IN THE HEAT. PITTMAN IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE GREAT TALENT IN THE FIELD, BUT THIS MAY NOT BE THE WALKOVER THE AUSSIE PRESS ARE PREDICTING…kk
Women’s 400m Hurdles Final
Lane Bib Country - Name Birth Date Personal Best Season Best
1 1696 MAS - MOHD KHALID Norasheela 27/09/1979 56.39 56.39
2 1087 AUS - BRITO Sonia 10/06/1979 55.50 56.94
3 1372 ENG - DANVERS SMITH Natasha 19/09/1977 54.02 55.47
4 1592 JAM - STODDART Shevon 21/11/1982 54.47 54.47
5 1982 SCO - McCONNELL Lee 09/10/1978 55.68 55.68
6 1120 AUS - PITTMAN Jana 09/11/1982 53.22 54.41
7 1304 CYP - SIALOU Androula 27/01/1973 54.76
8 1396 ENG - SANDERS Nicola 23/06/1982 55.61 55.61
HMMM, HERE’S THE LANE DRAW FOR THE W400H FINAL. SANDERS RAN 50.72SEC INDOORS IN BRITAIN LAST MONTH. BUT SHE HAS HAD TROUBLE WITH HER STRIDE PATTERN BETWEEN THE HUREDLES, SO PERHAPS THE OUTSIDE LANE DRAW HAS EVEN DONE HER A FAVOUR? I SUPPOSE IF SHE CAN BE CONVINCED THAT LANE 8 IS GOOD FOR HER, IT MAY TURN OUT THAT WAY. kk 
Gifted Pittman should walk it in
By Raelene Boyle
March 23, 2006
WATCHING Jana Pittman contest her 400 metres hurdles yesterday reminded me again what an extremely gifted athlete she is. She has a great physical presence and she looks to be in fantastic condition.
Jana should walk it home in the final. She could be performing discus-throwing turns to the crowd like the guy in the NAB ad up and down the home straight and she could still cross the line first.
The time she spent with her former coach Phil King improved her action over the hurdles tremendously and in the time she was with him her running action improved too.
She is a beautiful runner. If there is an Achilles heel in her make-up it is psychological. Getting to the starting blocks has always been the issue with Jana.
I became aware of her talent very early in her career because a good friend of mine, Jackie Byrnes, used to coach her and while there was often a lot of hysterics about her training methods Jackie’s description to me was along the lines of: “She’s as strong as an ox and she’s a huge talent.”
There is so much that this girl can do. You can say there is not so much depth in the 400 metres hurdles in the Commonwealth Games but when you look past her 400 hurdles to her as a 400-metre runner I believe she has a lot of talent there also.
I know she hasn’t done well lately as a flat runner but there have been other issues that hopefully won’t get in the way of her talent.
If she has doubts over her speed over 400 I also believe she could have a lot of success as an 800-metre runner if she chose to take that on.
I really believe that in the event she has chosen, the 400 hurdles, she is the best in the world. But the best in the world doesn’t always win. Watching her yesterday took away any doubts over her winning another Commonwealth Games gold and defending her title. She looked very comfortable and the crowd cheered her as we all knew they would.
On performances, Jana is well ahead of the field tonight and I am looking forward to watching her run just to see what happens. What is so exciting is that she is only 23 and, apart from the Jamaican Shevon Stoddart, who is about a week or so younger, she is the baby of tonight’s race.