BERLIN - Seeing the Canadian flag being carried around Olympic Stadium by Priscilla Lopes-Schliep after she finished second in the 100-metre hurdles brought back great memories for me, to when I held the Maple Leaf aloft in celebration on the very same track.

In one of the most competitive events here at the 2009 world athletics championships, Lopes-Schliep handily delivered Canada's only medal so far at this meet. With Lolo Jones, the top hurdler in the world this year, on the sidelines after falling at the U.S. championships, it was anyone's race to win.

I have been very impressed with how Lopes-Schliep has maintained her focus and great confidence throughout the season since earning a bronze medal at last year's Olympics in Beijing.

In a case of bizarre timing that one track official said was a "cock-up," Lopes-Schliep was selected for drug-testing after her semi-final earlier in the day and made it to the final with just 10 minutes to spare. This is inexcusable and someone should get their knuckles rapped. But Lopes-Schliep didn't let it detract from the job at hand. She appeared poised, relaxed and ready on the start line.

Perdita Felicien, our other Canadian hope in the race, on the other hand, looked nervous and unsure of herself. She had been competitive all year, had gotten over some injuries and I was hoping she could overcome her fears and battle for gold but it was not to be.

The 100-metre hurdles is an event of centimetres and is very unforgiving. The field for this event was very competitive and the race didn't disappoint for sheer drama and excitement. The final had two Canadians, two Americans, two Jamaicans, and a single athlete from Australia and from Ireland.

After a clean start, all eight athletes cleared the first hurdle but Felicien, in what is becoming a disturbing pattern, stumbled on the second hurdle. She stayed upright but was effectively out of the race, finishing dejectedly in eighth and last place in 15.53 seconds.

Olympic champion Dawn Harper from the United States suffered a similar fate as Felicien, which left six real competitors in the race.

Lopes-Schliep got a good start and maintained her form and composure as she'd been doing all season. The only woman ahead of her was 34-year-old Brigitte Foster-Hylton of Jamaica.

Lopes-Schliep was quickly gaining but "ran out of track," as they say in the sport. She finished in 12.54 seconds, with Foster-Hylton running a season's best 12.51 seconds.

A second Jamaican, Delloreen Ennis-London, finished third in 12.55 seconds.

Seems you had to have a hyphenated last name to win a medal in this race!

It was nice to see Lopes-Schliep and Foster-Hylton hug and celebrate together after the race. Lopes-Schliep is a popular athlete, even with her competitors, always friendly with an ever-present smile on her face.

The Jamaicans have been very confident riding on the success of their sprinters. Both Jamaican medalists in this race are veterans and ran with no pressure except their own personal goals.

I always cheer for Canada first, but if the gold wasn't going coming to us, Foster-Hylton certainly deserved it after coming back from retirement last year and working hard to get back into top form.

Next up for the Canadian team, our hopes lie on the slender shoulders of Kamloops' finest, Gary Reed, who also has a medal chance in an extremely competitive event, the 800 metres, with the heats getting under way today.

Our men's 4x100-metre relay team, which hopes to improve on its sixth-place finish from the Beijing Olympics, also have an outside chance at a medal.

I hope both will be inspired by Lopes-Schliep's silver-medal performance and propel themselves onto the podium. We need to see our flag make its way around the track again.

- Special to The Globe and Mail