Bronze medal has Lopes-Schliep jumping By Rob Longley, SUN MEDIA

BEIJING - There was a lot of jumping going on for Whitby, Ont.’s Priscilla Lopes-Schliep here on Tuesday night.

Over land, over hurdles and ultimately over the moon on a steamy night in the Bird’s Nest when she seized the moment and the bronze medal that went with it.

“I feel like I’ve jumped out of my body and gone to heaven and back,” said Lopes-Schliep, whose showing in the 100-metre hurdles was dramatic as it was refreshing for an Athletics Canada program in need of a jolt.

“This is a dream that’s become a reality of mine.”

It was Canada’s first Olympic track and field medal since 1996 when Donovan Bailey and the men’s 4x100 relay team each won gold.

It certainly was a dream finish for Lopes-Schliep, who overcame a tardy start with a late surge and a perfectly timed lean to the wire. Her time of 12.64 was the same as silver medalist Sally McLellan of Australia and just .01 faster than Damu Cherry and Delloreen Ennis-London.

American Dawn Harper took the gold in 12.54 while her heavily-favoured compatriot Lolo Jones clipped the penultimate hurdle and finished seventh.

“It’s hurdles,” said Jones, who was well in front before her miscue. “You have to get over all 10.”

Lopes-Schliep had to sweat out a lengthy photo finish then went bonkers when the result was posted, screaming and jumping up and down with McLellan.

“It just started flashing ‘photo finish, photo finish, photo finish’ for what seemed like about 10 days,” said her husband, former Nebraska basketball player, Bronsen Schliep.

“Once her name popped up, I was ecstatic. This is the pinnacle of sports.”

It was quite a journey for Lopes-Schliep, who started out as a high school star in Whitby before earning a scholarship to Nebraska where she emerged as an NCAA star.

Earlier this summer, she captured her first Canadian championship at the Olympic trials in Windsor.

But those wins are nothing to the bronzed medallion she let her husband hold after a prolonged hug in the basement of the vast Olympic Stadium.

“It still feels like a big dream right now,” Lopes-Schliep said. “I’ve got this medal around my neck but its here, it’s real. I took a big bite out of it and it’s the real deal.

“I’ve worked so hard and been the underdog for so long. Now everything’s coming together and paying off.”