Perry repeats as World Champion

Former Bruin Michelle Perry continued her dominance in the women’s 100-meter Hurdles with a gold medal in the World Track & Field Championships in Osaka, Japan.

Perry got out of the blocks first and then stormed to a mark of 12.46 to edge Canada’s former World Champion, Perdita Felicien, by 0.03 seconds.

"It was an extremely difficult race," she told reporters after the event. "I rate it in the top three most difficult ones in my career. I kept talking to myself that I can win this race and defend my title and stayed calm.

"First five hurdles were great, in the middle it was little shaky and I did my best after the 10th hurdle. My coach always believes in strong finishes. It was a close call. We waited for couple of minutes, I did not know who won. I was thinking am I second or third? Now I want to enjoy it."

Perry earned $60,000 for winning the world title. She is still in the running for the "Golden League Jackpot" of $1 million, having won the hurdle races in the first three Golden League meets of the year. If she can win – and she will be favored – in the Weltklasse meet in Zurich on September 7, the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels on September 14 and the ISTAF in Berlin on September 16, she will have some substantial tax issues to deal with.

What about Beijing in 2008? "For the future maybe I can return to the heptathlon and do both."