Having finished sixth in the final of the girls’ Class One 100m on Wednesday, St Elizabeth Technical High School’s (STETHS) Habiba Harris is now promising to deliver something special in the 100m hurdles at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships at the National Stadium today.

Harris, a favourite to take home the gold medal in the event, has been in top form this season, recording a personal best of 12.96 seconds in the Under-20 event at the Carifta Trials on March 3. It was the first time in her career that she broke the 13-second barrier.

Not competing in the event last year due to a hamstring injury suffered in the 200m, Harris has declared herself fit, focused, and ready to secure the gold medal for her school.

“The plan for the hurdles is just to go out there, execute, and do my very best, putting together everything I have been working on in one race to take home that gold medal for my school,” she said. “I would say that I am fairly confident because you have to be confident going into races like these, competing against the eight fastest hurdlers in Jamaica. So, my confidence is where it should be.”

At 18, Harris, a first-year Class One athlete, has announced that she will be forgoing her final year of eligibility at Champs to either attend college or pursue a professional athletic career, making her eager to end her Championships career with a bang.

“I am very motivated, considering this is my last year at Champs, even though I am a first-year Class One student,” she said. “I just want to go out with a blast. I have been training and working towards it, so I am really excited to see how fast I can go.”

Harris says that despite finishing sixth in the 100m final on Wednesday, she is proud of her performance because she completed the race without injury. She says she is not feeling pressure from anyone to excel in this event due to her calm mindset and that executing her race properly will lead her to victory.

“I am very proud of myself because I completed a final without being injured, so that is a very good feeling,” she said. “Hopefully, I can recover and come back for my next event.

“Normally, if you have an athlete and you see their potential, then the expectations are going to be high. However, my coaches have been motivating me non-stop, so they are expecting me to deliver what I have been training for this season.”