The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

She had a sensational year in her transformation from the 400 metre hurdles to the 100m hurdles. But for Pedrya Seymour, she’s just starting to scratch the surface.

“The change in events was definitely not easy. It started from last season when I ran the 60m hurdles for the first time,” said Seymour as she reflected on her performance this year.

“My times weren’t that fast but my coach saw stuff that I did right and if I got better at them I could be a special athlete and that’s exactly what happened.”

Seymour, 21, said the endurance from the 400 and 400mh gave her the base to be able to sprint while staying coordinated during the entire race.

After her stellar performance at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Seymour is back at the University of Illinois where she is preparing for another year to prove her worth at the collegiate level where she advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championship final, only to tumble and fall over the first hurdle.

“The transition back to being a college student is definitely not easy,” said Seymour, who suffered the loss of her only brother Keron Dean during her indoor season, but didn’t allow the shooting tragedy to derail her goals for the outdoor season.

“I’m still busy with interviews and photo shoots for TV shows, newspapers and radio stations over here, but I am grateful for the opportunity to share my experience with people because I know people want to know what Rio was like.”

For Seymour, it was her first Olympic experience although she got introduced to the elite when she represented the Bahamas at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon, in March.

She said she hasn’t had a chance to take a look at her races in Rio in detail, but she did watch snippets of it.

“Schoolwork has already started so I’m trying to keep on top of that,” she stated. “I am very proud and pleased of my accomplishments in Rio. What can I say? I have had a mind-blowing season. I shocked myself.”

Seymour gave a lot of credit to her coach, Ron Garner. “He is humbled because he has watched me bloom into an amazing, elite athlete. This year he and I have grown in faith,” Seymour pointed out.

“He’s faced some difficulties health wise in the past year and we would always encourage each other whether it is sending inspirational text messages or daily scriptures.”

Garner, the head coach at Illinois, admitted that Seymour had an amazing year.

“Our coaching staff is humbled by her story,” he said. “Coach Randy Gillon did an excellent job shaping her into an Olympic athlete.

“She worked very, very hard and desired to represent the Bahamas and honour our family on the world stage. We are so proud of her success. We’re also very proud of coach George Cleare, who has believed in her since she was a child and prepared her for her college and international track and field career.”

Garner, however, said her success would not have been possible without the tremendous support she received from her parents, Pedro and Cecily Seymour.

“Drya’s family are to be commended for the outstanding values, work-ethic and spiritual foundation that they have instilled in her for life,” he said.

In Rio, Seymour said she felt right at home being around her fellow team-mates from the Bahamas. But she was even more delighted that her parents were in the stands.

“They were in Rio from the 12th and I actually didn’t get a chance to see them until after my semi-finals,” said Seymour, of her best race of the three she participated in, lowering her national record to book her ticket to the final.

“We were all so emotional after I ran 12.64. My mom said she couldn’t watch the race, her nerves almost suffocated her. Lol. But I’m happy that I made their trip to Rio worthwhile.”

Cleare, who coached Seymour during her developmental stage as a junior athlete, said he was just as thrilled as everybody else about her performance, which just fell short of upsetting the American trio when she made a rookie mistake as she clipped the final hurdle and, instead of getting on the podium, ended up in sixth place.

“She had, in my opinion, probably the most impressive performance for Team Bahamas,” Cleare said. “Although we got the gold medal from Shaunae and the men’s 4 x 400m team came through with the bronze, I don’t think anybody expected Pedrya to do what she did. She lowered her national record and she made it to the final in her first Olympics.

“I think she might have been overwhelmed by competing in the final at that level for the first time, but if it wasn’t for a mistake she made on the final hurdle, she could have easily been one of the medallists. I was really impressed with her performance during the games. She performed exceptionally well.”

Now that the season is over, Seymour said she intend to continue to work as hard as she did over the past four months to see her world ranking dropped from number 23 to number 6.

“I chose to finish my studies here at U of I and go after the school record which is 12.53, go after top place at the Big 10 and the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets,” she projected.

“I definitely want to improve my time at World Champs next year and I know once I stay motivated a place on the podium has my name on it.”

Coach Garner said he believe that the “best is yet to come” for the St Anne’s High School graduate.