BEIJING — If they were disappointed, they sure didn’t show it.
Moments after claiming an Olympic bronze medal in the 110-meter hurdles Thursday, Denver East grad David Oliver found his mother, Brenda Chambers, on the backstretch of the track. He had a look of contentment on his face, if not elation. She dabbed away tears of joy, a mother’s pride shining as bright as the Olympic flame on the rim of the 91,000-seat stadium.
A prerace favorite, along with Cuba’s Dayron Robles, Oliver had his heavily muscled shoulders draped in an American flag, and when he hugged his mother, the flag wrapped around them both.
“I’m happy she was here to enjoy my success as well,” Oliver said, “because without her, there is no me. That’s my foundation.”
Chambers, who was a 400-meter hurdler at the University of Colorado, told Oliver he should be “extremely proud” of what he had accomplished in just his third season among the world’s elite.
“He can’t be disappointed, at all,” Chambers said. “This is just fabulous. He seemed happy. I hope he’s happy. He should be.”
Robles, the world-record holder, won the gold medal in 12.93 seconds, with David Payne of the U.S. edging Oliver for the silver medal by .01 of a second. Oliver ran 13.18.
“Me and David went out there and held up our end of the bargain,” Oliver said. “Got a medal out of it. They only pass out three, every four years, so to be one of the people who gets one of them is definitely an accomplishment.”
Oliver is the only man who has beat Robles this season, but former hurdles great Renaldo Nehemiah said he thought Oliver looked a little tight in the semifinals and finals.
“I thought the reality of, ‘I’m at the Olympic Games, I want to win this,’ and thinking about trying to win it, and what that means (sunk in),” Nehemiah said. “The last two races haven’t been the David Oliver we’ve been watching most of this year.”
But he also was up against a brilliant talent. Robles is only 21, yet he’s dominating. He gained a huge lead out of the blocks and over the first hurdle.
“He’s just very technical, his trail leg is very tight, he takes those seven steps to the first hurdle while the rest of us are taking eight,” Oliver said. “When you take one step out of the race, you’re already at an advantage. I’ve just got to find a way to get a little bit stronger, better in my technique.”
This had been one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the Olympics, in any sport, before Chinese superstar Liu Xiang had to pull out with an Achilles tendon injury Monday. Liu is a former world-record holder and possibly China’s most popular athlete.
“Liu Xiang has always been a very great competitor and athlete,” Robles said. “You can feel it when he’s there on the track.”
Oliver went out for track in high school because his friends were on the team. Thursday, he had a message for the school’s students of today.
“Denver East High School was the foundation that built me into the man I am today,” Oliver said. “The hard knocks and things that come along with being in high school — just keep your head on straight, keep working hard and listen to the people that have your best interest at heart.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
