Newly crowned World Champion Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados celebrates his first global title at 110m Hurdles with a National Record of 13.14 (Getty Images)

Berlin, Germany - When Ryan Brathwaite crossed the finish line after the men’s 110m Hurdles final less than 30 minutes after Usain Bolt became the first man ever to break 19.20 in an astounding 200m final and less than 30 minutes before Blanka Vlasic became the first woman since Hestrie Cloete to defend her World Championships title, he too made history in his own little big way.

At 21 years of age, Brathwaite became the youngest ever champion in the history of the event at the IAAF World Championships and the first ever athlete from Barbados to not only win a medal but a gold medal in this competition.

Yet it took the Bridgetown-born more than five minutes to realize that he had achieved his ultimate goal. The announcer called his name once, twice, three times, but Brathwaite wasn’t sure yet. He waited until his name eventually appeared on the screen board to celebrate.

It came as no surprise that he should be cautious as only one hundredth of a second separated first from third. His 13.14 national record had the better over the US pair of Terrence Trammell who added yet another silver to his resume and David Payne who defended his bronze medal from Osaka, both credited with 13.15.

“My brain was blank,” he confessed about the seconds following his race. “I was so happy, shocked. I could say nothing, I was in a whole different world.”

True to his young age Brathwaite candidly admits that he “glanced to the right and glanced to the left and saw it was real close. I just told myself, ‘man I hope I don’t end with silver or bronze…I was praying for the gold medal.”

Brathwaite has been a promising up and coming athlete winning silver at the 2005 IAAF World Youth Championships. Two years on and still a Junior he competed at the Osaka World Championships where he advanced to the semi-finals. He also made the semis at the Beijing Olympic Games where he broke the national senior record with his 13.38 performance in the heats.

That was eight months after he moved from his native Barbados to Great Bend, Kansas, USA to attend the Barton County Community College. But it wasn’t until the fall of 2008 that he met the man who he believes deserves the credit for having turned him into a gold medal winner.

“I train with Matt Kane in a small town called Great Bend in Kansas. We have great training facilities and the place is small. It’s good, there’s nothing around it so it’s good I can focus on track and field,” he laughs.

“I have a lot of thanks to give to my coach. There is no other coach better than him. We have worked hard on my strength and my technique. Coach told me I could win. He believed in me. He just said ‘please get over the last hurdle.’ And that’s what I did.”

“I am so proud now. I would like to thank everyone who helped me get here and everyone who came to watch and supported me. It was a great crowd.”

Coach Kane was just as proud a man as his young champion. “It’s unbelievable. You know the hurdles is the sort of event where you can easily come first or you can easily come last.

“I started working with Ryan in the fall; he has matured a lot since I took him on. We worked on strength and technique and did a lot of drills work. The hurdles is an “old” race so for him to win at 21 is unbelievable. I believe there is still a lot more for him to come.”

Kane admitted that Brathwaite’s winning race tonight was probably the worst race he’s seen him run.

“Usually I would rate his technique 9 out of 10 but tonight, honestly… I would give him a 5 or a 6. It was probably his worst race but he made it look good.”

So what made the difference?

“Just a lot of want to,” the coach has no doubt. “He is extremely strong. If he had run the first 30 metres differently tonight he would certainly have gone close to 13 flat and it wouldn’t have been that close a finish.

“Just before the final we spoke a lot, we went over the things that he already knew. I told him it’s a rhythm race and his rhythm is better than anyone else’s. I explained to him that life after the final would be the same as before the final so just stay relax and run over the last hurdle.”

Brathwaite has had an incredible season coming into these Championships lowering his own national record three times. In the Olympic stadium here in Berlin he convincingly won his heat yesterday and then his semi final in what was his fourth Barbados record of the season at 13.18 only to lower it by a further 4 hundredths a couple of hours later.

Former World record holder Colin Jackson had predicted he would be among the top three a week ago and a potential candidate to gold.

His breakthrough at the highest level was also expected by the man who had the best result for his country before him, namely 2000 Olympic bronze medallist Obadele Thompson whose best showing at World Champs was a fourth place.

Thomspon said:  “It was only a matter of the right timing and circumstances before he revealed his true abilities and competitiveness.

“I am not surprised that he won. Over the past few weeks, I have been texting and emailing him about being World Champion. Up to last night I emailed and told him to 'take no prisoners'. He is a tremendous talent and competitor - as shown in him pulling out a tough victory against seasoned competitors.

“I believe that when he matures and improves his technique he could threaten the World record.  I hope that he has a long career filled with many more titles and records. I only wish I was in Berlin to sing the Barbados National Anthem with him.”
 

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