Haley's comet

MEDIA RELEASE (for immediate circulation) 1st July 2011

Haley's comet

Haley Long's silver medal in the 400m on Thursday was extra special for her parents Warren and Wendy, considering what they went through before leaving Christchurch. The day before they left for Greece, the June 13 earthquake damaged the property they had bought in Fendalton just a few weeks earlier.

"I got a few bruises getting out of the house," said Wendy. "The house was going one way and I was trying to get out the other way. Haley had left the day before so that was good. I think we might go home to some structural damage but it’s nothing, compared to what other people in Christhchurch are going through."

Warren braved the aftershocks to go back into the house and grab their clothes and suitcases and they packed in the driveway before heading for the airport. Even when they got to Greece however they couldn't escape the earthquake.

"We did a cruise before we came to the Games and every time someone slammed a door we jumped. Every time the ship did a little shudder it felt like another earthquake until we remembered we were on a boat."

The earthquakes in Christchurch also disrupted Haley's training but she showed no signs of it in her 400m final, making light of the 30 plus degree heat in the middle of the day. "It was hot but it didn't bother me too much because I did a really good warm up," she said.

Her father Warren was watching her warm up carefully.

"The only time she gets nervous is when she's on the track and you can tell how she's feeling by her warm up routine. If she's jumping around a lot she's nervous." "Today she was as calm as I've seen her," added Mum. "I think she felt good about herself because she did a personal best in her heat."

Long ran another personal best in the final, running a very controlled race and finishing strongly in the closing 100m, a testament to her long distance training. Long runs 7km a day as well as playing soccer, both mainstream and Special Olympics. She works as a house maid in Eliza's Manor, a boutique hotel on Bealey Ave in Christchurch (or at least she did before the earthquake) and she also does voluntary gardening work for the Waiora Trust.

"I've been running since I was 12-years-old. I'm really proud to have achieved so much and I'm just pleased I was picked to be part of the team and pleased to have won a medal."

ENDS

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