16th July 2013 11:22
Right from the heats of the 400m it was clear that France had a star in the making. The impression she gave of power and speed allied to a tactical brain suggests that Guion Fermin is clearly one to watch in the coming years.
In the 400m final of Saturday afternoon she got away to an explosive start, making up the stagger on Poland’s Malgorzata Holub on her outside after just 75 metres before cruising down the back straight. By 250m Guion Fermin had done a similar job on the silver medallist, Mirela Lavric of Romania, who was all of two lanes outside her.
From then on the rest were fighting for scraps as the French woman crossed the line in a new lifetime best 51.68, an improvement of over half a second on her previous best clocking.
“It was a tactical race that I really wanted to win,” said the champion. “This title represents a lot of sacrifices made along the way. It is a starting point for greater things.”
Which is exactly what European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz sees as the justification for these championships – as a vital stepping stone between the junior and senior ranks. Guion Fermin is the personification of that philosophy.
Like another famous French 400m exponent before her, Marie Jo Pérec, Guion Fermin hails from a Caribbean island, in her case Martinique. Born in La Trinité, she now studies at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Like Pérec, Guion Fermin also runs the 200m and one hour after taking 400m gold she lined up in the 200m final where she secured silver: “I just really wanted to have fun in the 200m,” she said.
It was fun that almost ended in a second gold. Running blind in lane eight with the favourite, Jodie Williams of Great Britain, in lane four, Guion Fermin almost pulled off a surprise. In the last 30m she was catching the Briton with every stride and in the end only failed by 0.04 to snatch gold and upset the odds.
As consolation it was another dramatic improvement, a career best by over half a second for a final time of 22.96: “I knew I was capable of doing the double,” said the silver medallist. “On top of everything, I have done yet another personal best. It’s the perfect day!”
Guion Fermin came to athletics from gymnastics as a schoolgirl growing up in the Caribbean when her gymnastics teacher left and she was casting about for another sport to pursue. Her mother persuaded her to try athletics and so her career began.
To complete her championships in Tampere, Guion Fermin then acted as lead-off in the 4x400m where yet another storming run gave the French quartet a comfortable lead which eventually led to a bronze medal.
Her time on that leg was clocked at 51.22, implying that sub-51 is not that far away.
“The 400m was the first gold medal of my career. I am beyond happiness,” was her succinct appraisal of the week. “There is no other way to express my state of being.”