Change pays dividends in Daegu

By Kang Seung-woo

Lesser-known U.S. middle-distance runner Jennifer Barringer Simpson’s record in the women’s 1,500 meters is the slowest winning time in track and field world championships history.

However, the tally did not taint her glory at all, given that the 25-year-old Iowa native has recently converted from the 3,000-meter steeplechase to the half-distance race.

The 13th World Championships in Athletics in Daegu has seen several converts, like Jennifer Barringer Simpson, outshining those who have focused on just one event.

Simpson represented her country in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and finished fifth in the event at the Berlin worlds in 2009 after running an American record and a personal-best 9 minutes 12.50 seconds.

Despite a burgeoning career in the steeplechase, her coach Juli Benson persuaded her to step down to 1,500 meters in a belief that she can be more competitive in the shorter race, which eventually paid off.

Simpson, who was not seen as a contender before the final Thursday due to her poor season best of a modest 3 minutes 59.90 seconds and ranking outside the top 10 list. But she outsprinted rivals Natalia Rodriguez of Spain and Kalkidan Gezahegne of Ethiopia down the stretch to become the first American in 28 years to win 1500-meter gold.

“I am also a 3000-meter steeplechaser and today there was a lot of steeple experience in the race, and this experience kept me calm,” Simpson said.

“I am supposed to say that I am not surprised — all I can say is that it is a dream come true!”

Russia’s Yulia Zaripova, who topped the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, began her athletic career in the 800, where her nation established its foothold.

Her modest records in the two-lap race led her to quit her career in the sport in 2006.

After taking two years off, she returned at the request of her coach to the steeplechase, but not the 800 meters.

“After 2008, I came back to my coach Mikhail Kuznetzov and he proposed to change to the steeplechase. The main reason behind it was that I could stay a national team member. That was due to the steeplechase,” Zaripova said.

Her transition did not take much time to earn recognition, as she claimed a silver medal at the Berlin meet two years ago.

The 25-year-old also ended up with the first podium finish at the European Championships and International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Continental Cup in 2010 before becoming the world champion on Daegu’s blue-colored track on Wednesday night.

Russian 20-kilometer race walker Valeriy Borchin tried out weight lifting and long-distance running in 3,000 and 5,000 meters before starting his career in the race walk at 17.

Like Zaripova, Borchin, who turns 25 on Sept. 11, wasted no time getting on the race walk map, settling for second at the European Championships in 2006.

The reigning Olympic champion has pulled off defending his world title, poising himself to defend yet another title at the London Olympics next year — a feat that has never happened in history since the 20-kilometer competition was introduced in 1956 in place of the 10-kilometer one.

British hurdler David Greene has become another piece to the puzzle of successful conversion at the ongoing meet.

Greene, 25, won the first gold medal for his country in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, seen a duel between South Africa’s L.J. van Zyl and American Bershawn Jackson.

The European champion is a footballer-turned athlete, a Welshman who admired his compatriot Ryan Giggs of Manchester United and played for a youth football club between 11 and 18 before an injury discouraged him.