Linda Harper
Dawn Harper
In the afterglow of seeing her daughter capture a second Olympic medal, Linda Harper of Belleville says she's already saving money for a third trip to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Harper, a clerk at the St. Clair County Record of Deeds office, said it was a thrill to see her daughter, Dawn Harper, 28, compete again on the world stage.
"That kid makes me proud all the time," she said.
With a personal best time of 12.37 seconds in the 100 meter hurdles, Dawn Harper earned a silver medal on Aug. 7. She was edged out by Sally Pearson of Australia who finished in 12.35 seconds.
Even though she took gold in the event in 2008 in Beijing, Harper was nonetheless grateful to even make it to London this year. Her prospects for competing had been in doubt because of knee surgery she underwent two years ago.
Linda Harper said she was "out of my mind thrilled to see this kid in the Olympics, a feat in and of itself."
Dawn Harper was quoted in an article on iamdawnharper.com, "To go from that to this...there were many times I broke down crying. I was like, 'Lord, this is what you see for me.' I thought I had a gift."
The love of running was discovered at an early age, according to Linda Harper. She figured she would channel her daughter's "busy body" and "hyper" energy to the track.
"She fell in love with it," she said. "And the rest is history."