Dominican Republic's Felix Sanchez (left) hugs Jamaica's Danny McFarlane after the men's 400 metres hurdles final at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Sanchez won gold in a time of 47.63 seconds ahead of Jamaica's Danny McFarlane and France's Naman Keita. - Reuters
CMC:
JAMAICAN OLYMPIC 400-metre hurdles silver medallist Danny McFarlane is looking ahead to the 2005 World Championships this summer in Helsinki after a solid performance in Athens.
McFarlane finished the Athens final in 48.11 seconds, behind Dominican Republic's Felix Sanchez with France's Naman Keita taking the bronze.
In a story on the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) web site, the 32-year-old McFarlane said that with improvements to his techniques he hopes to make another podium appearance in August.
LOWER
"Technically, I'm coming off the hurdles a little bit lower," McFarlane said.
Improvements between hurdles six and eight, and approaching the tenth hurdle in a better position, he said, can lower his time to the 47.4-47.5 range.
"I'm landing badly off of nine, so I have to improve that."
McFarlane also created history at the games of the 28th Olympiad by becoming only the second man to reach the finals of both the flat 400 metres and the one lap hurdles event.
The strongly-built Jamaican finished eighth in Sydney and joins American Frank Waller, who was a finalist in both at St. Louis, 100 years ago.
PRACTICAL APPROACH
McFarlane believes that his success in Athens came mainly from taking a practical approach with him to the starting blocks.
"I had to be realistic," he said. "Felix is good. So I made sure I didn't run his race. I just had to run my own race."
The Jamaica Invitational Meeting in May will be McFarlane's first outing for the 2005 season as he plans to skip the 2005 indoor season.
At 32, he is the among the oldest world-class full lap hurdlers, but doesn't seem too concerned with his age.
"I'll definitely compete through '08, I'm new to this event. When I started training again last month, it seemed
so easy to me. I felt like I
was 25."
