by Stuart Weir
Brianna Rollins, 2013, photo by Stuart Weir
This is Stuart Weir’s interview of Briana McNeal, one of the finest 100m hurdlers of all times, gives us a view into her psyche in major championship years…
Brianna McNeal
I first met Brianna McNeal (Brianna Rollins) in the lobby of the US team hotel at the Moscow World Championships in 2013. It was a formal interview set up by Amanda Brooks or Jill Geer, the US press officers. I knew nothing about Brianna except that she had just run 12.26 to win the 100H at the US championships. I was in the stadium to see her become World Champion in 2013. In 2015 I saw her fail to defend her world title. In 2016 I saw her win World Indoor silver and Olympic gold. In 2018 in Brussels I saw her win the Diamond League title. In 2019, I watched her false-start in Doha. I am privileged to have got to know her a little.
In a two piece feature I chart her career development, in her own words and find out more about her as a person, based on six interviews with her over a seven-year period.
Moscow 2013 World Champion
Brianna Rollins, 2013, photo by Stuart Weir
Brianna Rollins, 2013, photo by Stuart Weir
Brianna was fastest in the prelim (12.55), second fastest in the semi (12.54). In the final she recovered from a poor start to win in 12.44 from Sally Pearson, Tiffany Porter and Dawn Harper.
Brianna: My approach to Moscow was just to continue doing what I had been doing that entire year, just to continue to focus on myself and run my own race. I thought if I can continue to do what I had done that year, I could become world champion. And it happened for me.
In the final remember reacting to the gun very slowly [0.261] but being able to carry my momentum over each hurdle, getting past each of the other ladies, crossing the line and winning. It was my most memorable race ever because I came from so far back but was able to capture the gold.
Beijing 2015 World Championship
Brianna was fourth in 12.67 behind Danielle Williams, Cindy Roleder and Alina Talay, all three running PRs
Brianna: I wouldn’t say that I was pleased with that but I was not that disappointed. I did the best I could that day, and that was fourth place. That year I was still learning how to be a professional athlete and there were some things I needed to change – like my weight room program to get stronger – to get back to where I was in 2013. I was pleased that I was still top 10 that year and that I was injury free. I was little upset with the final because I know I’m better than that.
Brianna McNeal takes second in Portland, photo by Getty Images for IAAF
Briana Rollins, silver, Nia Ali, gold, Trish Porter, bronze, photo by Getty Images for IAAF
2016 Olympic Champion
Nia Ali had won the World Indoors in Portland in 2016 with Brianna second. In Rio the order was reversed with Kristi Castlin completing a US clean sweep of the medals. Brianna was fastest in the prelim and the semis before running 12.48 in the final.
Briana: My approach was to go out, relax, have fun and focus on my own 10 hurdles, focus on my lane and remember that this is something that I do every day. It’s no different from any other race; it’s 100 metres with 10 hurdles. That was my approach to each round.
[Can you really think the Olympic final is just 100m and 10 hurdles?]
Yes, I had to think that way because there’s a tremendous amount of pressure on you at the Olympic Games with the entire world watching you. It’s not like the world championships which is just track and field. You have everyone watching you at the Olympics so there was a lot of pressure. You need to block that out and concentrate on what you need to do and handle your business
2018 Diamond League champion
She reached the Diamond League final with wins at Shanghai, Stockholm and London before running 12.61 to win the final from Keni Harrison and Danielle Williams
Brianna: Tonight was awesome. My coach and I talked about this race. He told me: ‘don’t come out here to run fast. Come out to win’. And that’s exactly what I did. I came here and competed to the best of my ability. I wanted to have a clean race. I didn’t start that well but I finished strong, and that is all that matters. I’ve been practicing in the last couple of weeks coming off the last hurdle and running hard. Tonight, I knew that if I did that I could win.
To be continued:
