Sage Watson of Canada win's gold in women's 400m hurdles at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019. The Seven Persons native finished third in the 400 metre hurdles at a meet in Italy this week.
Sage Watson wrote another chapter into her storybook summer with a gold medal at the Pan American Games Thursday in Lima, Peru.
The 25-year-old Seven Persons sprinter bested the field to take the top of the podium in the women’s 400-metre hurdles with a season-best time of 55:16.
Watson placed second in the semifinal with a time of 56.37 – just seven-hundreths of a second behind Puerto Rico’s Grace Claxton Joseph – but went on to shave more than a second off her time in the final, finishing 34-hundreths of a second ahead of American silver medalist Anna Cockrell. Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton settled for third at 55.53.
Watson took to social media following the milestone victory to express her elation, while also sharing that the result withstood a lengthy protest – however it held up as the fastest time of her year and her first gold medal at the Pan Am Games.
“What a night!! Won, found out there was a protest, we won the protest and now I am officially the Pan Am Games champion!” Watson tweeted Thursday evening. “Thank you for the love and support everyone! I will be on the podium tomorrow!”
Watson – who is coming off her second gold medal at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Montreal last month – won gold in the 400-metre hurdles at the 2013 Pan American Junior Championships in Colombia and bronze at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.
