Just three years after joining a track and field team the daughter of an Olympic-medal-winning Canadian has picked up her first medal for sprinting.
Katherine Surin finished third in the 400 m race this week in the Canada Games in Sherbrooke -- bettering her famous father Bruny's record by one spot.
Bruny Surin, who won a gold medal in the 4x100 relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics, has been offering her gentle encouragement as he's watched her train and compete, but now, like every proud papa, he is impressed with her medal-winning performance.
"I cannot believe it! It's crazy. I was saying as a joke, my first Canada Games I finished fourth and now she finished third, so she beat me! It's all good, it's all good," touted a very enthusiastic Surin.
Katherine, 17, always played tennis but only joined a track and field team three years ago, with her coach Nicolas Hamel only convincing her to join the sprint team last year.
"She didn't want to do the 400," said Hamel. "I pushed her a little bit and it's been a year that she's practiced in the 400, so the time -- 55.62 -- it's amazing, and we're really proud."
As for Katherine herself, she is less than overwhelmed by following in her father's footsteps.
"I'm really relaxed. I know that people are talking, like 'Oh my God, look, she's the daughter of Bruny Surin,' but I'm calm," said Katherine.
If anything she might have been too relaxed on the track.
"I thought I was going to finish last, and when I saw the two girls in front of me, I was like, 'Oh my God, I can get them!' And I just went, and here I am. I'm third and I'm happy!" said Katherine.
She has one more event coming up at the Canada Games -- the 4x400 relay -- but Michel Dussureault, one of the Games's organizers, predicts sports fans will be seeing much more of Katherine in the years to come.
"The long legs and everything, and I think she's going to be a good sprinter."
