by Stuart Weir
Tiffany Porter and Nooraltta Eziri, 2021 Torun, photo by European Athletics
Cindy Sember, Nadine Visser, 2021 Torun, photo by European Athletics
Cindy Sember, Nadine Visser, Tiffany Porter, 2021 Torun, photo by European Athletics
The women’s 60m hurdles was magnificent: a tough series of races that lead to an exciting 60m hurdle final. It was an exciting event to watch!
Sister Act
At the 2016 Olympics, sisters Cindy Ofili (now Mrs. Sember) and Tiffany Porter lined up in the Olympic final. Cindy was fourth – just 2/100ths of a second from a medal – Tiffany was seventh. Athletically, life has been difficult for both sisters in the past four years. Tiffany failed to realize her potential at the 2017 World Championships and 2018 Commonwealth Games. Cindy suffered a horrendous injury early in 2017. Tiffany then became a mom. One could have been forgiven for wondering if either of them would ever return to the heights of 2016. It was, therefore, for me, such a great joy to see both sisters perform brilliantly in ToruÅ„.
Cindy Sember and Tiffany Porter, 2021 Torun, photo by European Athletics
By her own admission, Tiffany did not run well in the prelim or semi-final, but, like the old pro that she is, she knew that prelims and semi-finals were about getting through to the next race. She hadn’t got it right but she knew how to fix it. Her comment was: “I know I’m better than that. That start wasn’t as good as the one before, but it’s ok. I had a really good finish and I made it to the final and that’s all that matters at this point. In the final, I’ve got to keep it clean. I’ve got to not do what I did there because that’s not acceptable, but I’m very confident for the final”.
By the time Cindy got to the final, she had run two seasons best times, of which she said: “It’s nice to get back to that place [before injuries]. I’m feeling very good so I’m feeling confident. I needed some good performances to get my mindset back to where it needed to be, so this is really good, I’m excited”.
As we studied the line-up for the final, Nadine Visser, the defending champion, looked strong. Pia Skrzyszowska and Nooraltta Eziri had also shown excellent form in this year’s indoor season. The sisters were going to have their work cut out to make the podium. In consequence of their semi-final performances, Cindy was in the middle, next to Nadine Visser. Tiffany in the outside lane.
But you know what they say, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”. Tiffany was not in the form of her life, she had not looked great n the prelims, but you can’t buy experience. Tiffany Porter knows how to run a final.
It finished
1 Nadine Visser (Netherlands) 7.77 WL
2 Cindy Sember (GB) 7.89
3 Tiffany Porter (GB) 7.92
4 Nooraltta Eziri (Finland) 7.93
5 Pia Skrzyszowska (Poland 7.95)
Cindy said afterward: “It’s absolutely amazing. I’m so happy to be here and I’m so happy that I could do it alongside my sister. We’ve both been through a lot, so it’s amazing to be medalling. It’s given me a lot of confidence. I didn’t think I would be able to do the indoors with some things going on, so now that I’ve been able to match my PR, I think there’s a lot more in store and I’m super excited”.
Tiffany commented: “It’s been a huge journey. I’m so pleased and I’m so grateful to be back. I’m running well. The first two rounds weren’t where I wanted to be, but I was like ‘you know what Tiffany, you’ve been here before, just execute a better race in the final, medals aren’t given in the first two rounds.'”
