thletics 29 athletics this, while she was still at school. excel at it is equally taxing. Despite 400m to her repertoir. It wasn’t hard Her first gold in senior her strong build, Jana’s body had an to see what event she might end up competition came two years later enormous amount of stress put on it pursuing. at the Commonwealth Games by the time she was 21 years old. In 1999, at the age of 16 under in Manchester in 2002. Then, Something had to give. It did so the guidance of her then coach, despite Russia’s Yuliya Pechonkina almost at the worst possible time. Jackie Byrnes, she took out the entering the following year’s world It all came to a head in 2004, when 400m hurdles at the inaugrual world championships as the overwhelming she broke down in the Weltklasse youth championships in Bydgoszcz, favourite, having broken the world meet in Zurich, just 15 days out from Poland. the opening round of A year later she the women’s 400m equalled the world hurdles at the Athens junior record with a The 400m hurdles is a brutal event on the body. Olympics. A slight run of 55.20 seconds The training needed to excel at it is equally taxing. tear to the meniscus and then won the of her right knee was selection trial for the originally thought to Olympic Games, record just weeks before the be much more serious and almost where she just missed qualifying for certainly ruling her out of the Games. championships, she came out on the semi finals by one place. Weeks For days she was in the media top with a sensational personal best later she became the first athlete to spotlight as the story developed. of 53.22 seconds – a time that still ever win the 400m/400m hurdles Few athletes garner their own stands as her personal best. double in an IAAF championship by terminology in the media through winning gold in both events at the The 400m hurdles is a brutal event their behaviour. Rawlinson’s name world juniors in Santiago, Chile. All of on the body. The training needed to
“
”
getty images
4 In 2007 Rawlinson returned to world class competition soon after the birth of her first child & recaptured the world title that she had first won in 2003.