Brill Having Wild Leap Year Former Olympian Rediscoversthe Good Times Of Competition

The slings and arrows of international politics and the direction the Olympics movement has taken might have dampened Debbie Brill’s ardor for track and field.

But nothing has been able to completely douse her competitive fires, which is why the holder of the Canadian high jump record is back.

Brill, 43, established an age-group masters record of 5 feet, 7-1/4 last week at the Canadian Games in Victoria, B.C., and just missed improving it Saturday during the USATF National Masters Meet at Spokane Falls Community College.

An international competitor since her teens, Brill was a three-time Olympian and World Cup champion, set an indoor world record at 6-6-1/2 and was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1980.

She never medaled in the Olympic Games but that was not the reason she tired of what they had become.

“I didn’t use the Olympics as a measure of my own worth and accomplishments,” she said. “After Munich, they became not a reason for doing it but a reason for getting out.”

Brill finished eighth in the Munich Olympics of 1972 when terrorists kidnapped and murdered Israeli athletes. Her decision to compete following the tragedy haunts her yet.

“My heart was not in it,” she said. “I didn’t do the thing I should have. I should have left.”

That the games were not cancelled, she said, “I think was bull. I still do. I thought, ‘If it’s getting to this, we shouldn’t go on.”’ Go on she did and during the Montreal Games in 1976, favorite daughter Brill - bothered by her country’s media pressure - no-heighted.

“Nothing was really wrong or right,” she said. “Had I overcome my nervousness I could have jumped well.”

In retrospect, not living up to the expectations of the press was the best thing that happened to her.

“I freed myself of something and after that there was a lightness to my approach,” said Brill.

She joined the Pacific Coast Club track team, along with Kate Schmidt who became her best friend.

“We knew of each other because we were famous for partying,” offered Schmidt. “We sought each other out after a meet in Germany.”

The PCC opened up new worlds for Brill, who won at the World Games and was presented the Order of Canada Medal from Queen Elizabeth.

The dark side of world politics interfered again in 1980 with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Canada joined the U.S. in boycotting the Games.

“I would have probably won,” said Brill, who shrugged off the turn of events. “It’s the way of the world. It was not a reason to jump.”

In 1982, five months after the birth of her first son, Brill set her world record. Today, she contends she came back too soon, leading to injuries that ended her career five years later.

Her best Olympic performance came in 1984 when she finished fifth at 6-4-1/2.

“I tore an ankle tendon qualifying,” said Brill. “You can’t talk yourself through pain sometimes.”

She gave up track in 1987 after her Achilles tendons gave out, requiring surgery.

“Then I had (two more) kids and it was wonderful,” she said. “They are more important things than the high jump.”

For all the injuries and political intrigue that ruined the sport for her, the urge to jump was too much.

“Competing is what I like. It’s one place that is a window to the inside of me,” Brill said. “I can check myself out, see how I’m doing and what’s going on.”

In the years since her last Olympics, nothing much has changed with Brill.

“She has great genes,” said Schmidt. “She looks exactly the same as she did 15 years ago.”

Olympic Trials - almost

Anne Jennings, who shared the best high jump mark of 5-7 with Brill, is having a jolly good time in her new event.

She was ranked 23rd in the U.S. with a 6-0 leap this year and qualified for the Olympic Trials, although she says she was later told not to bother showing up because her age limited her chances.

Too old? The former multi-events athlete at Boston University is just getting started.

“This is the most amazing year I’ve had,” she said. “I’d cleared 5-10 twice in my life, once in college and one as a fluke.”

This year Jennings cleared 5-10 in four meets, 5-11 in another and 6-0 at the Penn Relays.

“I’m going for it (the Olympics),” she said. “I’m inspired.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo