What can a little hard work and positive thinking do? Well for Ottawa hurdler, Sekou Kaba, it propelled him to the top of the medal podium at the 7ieme Jeux de la Francophonie. Kaba, who battled some nagging injuries earlier in the season, was in fine form at Stade Charles-Ehrmann, claiming gold in the 110m hurdles with a season's best run of 13.84 seconds.
Finishing on Kaba's heels was the man running to his right, 2005 World Champion Ladji Doucouré of France. The 31 year old Beijing Olympic finalist was just 0.09 seconds behind Sekou, crossing the line in 13.95. "It means a lot to beat a former world champion; simply shows that hard work and a little positive thinking can propel one to strive," said Kaba. Finishing in third was Ingvar Mosley who just edged out Kaba at the line in this year's Canadian Championships in Moncton.
Overcoming the hurdles off the track this year has added to the shimmer of this moment. "Gold feels great. I am very happy to have something to show for all the hard work I have put into this sport, let alone this year," said the University of Ottawa student. "I felt like a million bucks at the start line. Nothing was sore, no race jitters, simply had my eye on the task at hand."
With his season now over, Kaba is "looking forward to a couple good weeks of rest, smart rest." He hopes the time off will rejuvenate the body and help him come back for base training and work towards improving on this year's results. "I'll spend lots of time doing school work and visualizing next year's goals and targets; which is to continue to improve and represent [Canada] at major championships."
Next up for the Ottawa Lions in Nice is decathlete Patrick Arbour, a uOttawa alumnus who enters the two day competition ranked third. Thursday's events will see Arbour compete in the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m.
(Article courtesy Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club)
