Ath: Pittman sees herself winning gold

AAP General News (Australia)
08-15-2004
Ath: Pittman sees herself winning gold

By Sharon Mathieson

VARESE, Italy, Aug 14 AAP - She's yet to jump a hurdle since undergoing knee surgery
but Jana Pittman has been running her Olympic final in her head and she sees herself winning
gold.

The world champion 400m hurdler is once again allowing herself to believe she can win
the Olympic title on August 25 after an amazing recovery from knee surgery.

Pittman made a successful return to the track on Saturday, a week after undergoing
knee surgery and seven days before her first Olympic race.

She was expected only to jog but ended up putting on her spikes and ran at 70 per cent
of her top pace.

An emotional Pittman said she was now 90 per cent certain she would run in Athens and
her focus was no longer on just competing but had shifted back to winning.

"Ultimately starting the race is our goal but I'm just getting really confident now
and that's the main key," she said.

"At the back of my mind it's still starting to come out that the final is where I belong,
and beyond."

Pittman, who arrives in Athens tomorrow, hopes to get a look at the main stadium as
soon as possible and to train on the Olympic track to get a the lay of the land clear
in her head.

"As you can understand, I'm not going to be doing a lot of hurdling, so the next couple
of days I'm going to be doing visual training," she said.

"So I'm going to watch on a computer my race and just run it in my head, run it in
my head, run it in my head."

Asked if she saw herself winning when she ran the race in her head, Pittman replied: "Of course.

"You do run it through with people around you, sometimes one of the girls might be
in front of you and then you come through."

Pittman said it was overwhelming to think a week ago she was told her Olympic dream
was shattered after she tore cartilage in her knee.

But after surgery on Sunday she was back running in spikes, four days ahead of schedule.

"I was a bit teary when I was told I could put spikes on, I reckon that felt better
than winning world champs last year, so it's pretty special," she said.

"How things can chance in a week ... how things can change in 24 hours."

Pittman said if her devastating injury had taught her anything it had made her appreciate
the enormity of the Olympics and how much it meant to her to compete.

"It's not just some kiddie carnival, this is the Olympics, this is the ultimate experience
and I'm going to be a big part of it," she said.

Along with the running, Pittman was managing to do single squats on her injured right
knee while carrying weights.

Her coach Phil King said the next step was to get her running at full speed, clearing
hurdles and then get her starting out of the blocks.

"We've gone from being on crutches to running with spikes at 70 per cent race speed
in six days," he said.

"It's just a sensational improvement.

"She's surprised everyone but herself so far."

AAP sm/nh

KEYWORD: OLY ATH AUST NIGHTLEAD

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