Canadian Hurdling Star Priscilla Lopes-Schliep announced her retirement from Track & Field, during which she told her story at a press conference at Delta South on July 14, 2016.
Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, bronze medallist in the 100-metre hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, who was ranked No. 1 in the world in 2010.
Lopes-Schliep emerged as a key member of what became a Canadian tradition of excellence in women’s sprint hurdling following a stellar collegiate career at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She was the 2004 NCAA indoor champion, winning the 60-metre hurdles that year in a time of 7.82 seconds.
Her talent took the Scarborough native to the Summer Olympics in 2008, where Lopes-Schliep finished third in the women’s 100-metre hurdles final in a time of 12.64 seconds. It was Canada’s first Olympic medal in track and field since the 1996 Games in Atlanta, and the first Games medal won by a Canadian female since 1992, when Angela Chalmers won bronze in the women’s 3,000 metres.
Lopes-Schliep won a silver medal in her specialty at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin. She added a bronze medal in the 60-metre hurdles at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar in 2010. That was also the year Lopes-Schliep dominated the outdoor circuit, claiming the No. 1 world ranking in 100-metre hurdles as she won 12 straight races to clinch the overall Diamond League title.