There’s no doubt Michelle Dadson enjoys collecting medals – but when it comes to her track and field accomplishments, her prize possessions are her personal bests.
The New Westminster athlete corralled two more coveted personal bests as well as a prized berth to next month’s Legion National Youth Track and Field championships in Winnipeg with her performance last week at the B.C. Jamboree in Coquitlam.
Of course, there were three gold medals attached, too.
“I love it, just the feeling of throwing (the hammer),” said the soon-to-be 15 year old. “I was under a lot of stress because I just started throwing (the hammer) last year, and I really wanted to hit (the Legion qualifying standard).”
Although she came up short of that mark, reaching a distance of 45.24 metres, with 47.46 required, she blew away her previous best with a toss of 42.05m.
A three-event athlete, Dadson also topped the girls 14-15 year old discus, with a toss of 34.49 – another PB by 1.76m – and the shotput.
It was in the shotput where she already met the Legion standard at the high school provincials last month with a distance of 13.56, while collecting another gold at the jamboree, with a throw of 13.16m.
“Shotput is my best event and my favourite,” the St. Thomas More student said. “I’ve been doing it since I was nine years old, and what pleased me the most was when it came to championships, I used to not do as well as (regular meets) due to the pressure.
“I’m doing much better with the pressure now.”
The big leap forward in the hammerthrow likely didn’t surprise her supporters, who include her mom Claudia, older brother Emmanuel – himself a gold medal winner in the boys 16-17 triple jump – and coach Donald Allemeersch of the Vancouver Thunderbirds.
“I remember last year coming into practice and the coach said ‘Why don’t we just practice the hammer throw?’ and I was like, ‘OK,’” recalled Dadson. “It took a long time, and I told my mom and coach I didn’t want to do any competitions, but they made me do two.
“In practice, I was hitting a lot of 15 (metre) distances and really not feeling it, and then I suddenly hit a 36m (distance) and felt, ‘That’s good.’”
Qualifying for the Aug. 11 to 13 Legion championships in shotput was a special achievement in a year of breakthroughs.
“That was a big goal for me, because it’s a competition for 15 to 17 year olds. I wasn’t really expecting it but I was aiming for it.”
Dadson reached all these pinnacles despite changing clubs – following Allemeersch to Vancouver from Ocean Athletics – and being forced to train part of the year on her own after the family car broke down.
Her coach prepared a training regimen for her to follow, and the teen stuck to it, with the results now on the board.
As for her brother’s gold, which saw him clear a distance of 13.29m, Dadson said it was probably her favourite result of the week.
“He did great. I’m so proud of him,” she said. “We both started (track and field) at the same time so we have that competitiveness. ... He always jokes that he jumps farther than I throw.”
