Posted: August 10, 2004

Athletics: Olympic Q&A: Brenda Taylor, 400M Hurdler

Olympic Trials 400m hurdles runner-up Brenda Taylor (25, Chula Vista , Calif. ) is at Team USA training camp on Crete . The 2001 NCAA champion, Taylor will compete in her first Olympic Games. Taylor spoke with the press Tuesday. Below are excerpts from the conversation. For a full Brenda Taylor bio, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2004/OlympicGames/roster_alpha.asp

Q: How does it feel to be here?

A: Being here is just incredible. With everything the Olympics represents, and where we are in the world right now, it's really special. And of course, this place [Pilot Beach Resort] is incredible.

Q: How would you describe your mood right now?

A: I'm really excited. Right now, we have the top three times in the world coming out of the United States, and we're a really young team. I'm the old one, and I'm 25. I think our capabilities in the event are pretty incredible. Personally, my training has been great this year. I finally PR'd in Sacramento. I thought, I'm actually just running what I'm capable of. I know I have more.

Q: Do [400m hurdles teammates] Sheena Johnson and LaShinda Demus push you?

A: Athletes at this level, we love to rise to the challenge. If somebody raises the bar, that's awesome. Everybody wants to see the event [400m hurdles] again, which is great. The more people we have running well, the better it is for all of us. They're younger, but they've been training for longer than I have. College is the first time I ran track year-round, but I had other priorities. Track & field wasn't my focus. I was a cognitive neuroscience major and I graduated magna cum laude.

A: What is cognitive neuroscience?

A: It's the focus on the psychological underpinnings of behavior. I think I want to go to law school and business school, and work on health-care reform ... I didn't even know about the USA national championships when I was in college. The 2000 Olympic Trials was the first U.S. championship I went to. I didn't even know I qualified in 1999. Honestly, in 2001 I thought I was done with track & field. I won NCAAs, then made the world championship team. I traveled all over Europe, competing that summer, and I thought, 'maybe I can do this for a while.'

Q: You're smart, you're a great athlete - where does that come from? Your family?

A: My parents are awesome. My mom was my biggest cheerleader. Their approach is, you have a dream, make it a goal. You have a goal, figure out how to get there. My twin sister, Lindsey, went to Brown and was captain of the team. We were huge rivals. We would fight, steal each other's team flags ... they won every Ivy League championship except one, and that's the one Harvard won.

Q: What do you like about the 400 hurdles?

A: I think it's the most complete event on the track. You have to have extraordinary speed. You have to have extraordinary technical ability, because the name of the game at the end is losing less momentum than the person next to you. You have to have the endurance of an 800-meter runner. You have to be a strategic thinker, because your stride pattern might change on a given day because of wind or some other factor. You have to be able to make a decision like that. ...There are lots of ways to be a great 400-meter runner.

Q: What is the mood of the team?

A: We have a really young team. I think the mood of the team is optimistic and excited. There's a lot of talent here. On the outside, the more superficial level, I think there's also a frustration that the focus is in the wrong place. One is because of the light the country is seen in right now. The other is that the media focuses on some athletes doing some bad things, or focusing on athletes who've had success in the past. We're saying listen, we have this incredible group of athletes in front of us, we're ready to take on the challenge and bring the sport to a new level. In my event, we have world-record capabilities.

This is the stage. We're ready to make a statement. We have to execute on the right day. The stories leading up to the Olympics will be about scandals, but he stories the day after the events, you'll have new stories on a new level. It's a great moment, it's a great transition. We're cleaner, we're cracking down, we're being true to ourselves, and we're successful.