Perdita's back

By Thandiwe Vela

Perdita Felicien is alive and well, in case anyone thought she crawled under a rock for good after her Athens Olympic Games disappointment.

And she's making a huge comeback.

I know, because I met her and felt her back Wednesday night at a media panel discussion facilitated by the lovely Mary Anne Chambers.

I was a little startled when I gently touched her back while giving her a Christian side hug  - that girl is deezed! Yes, she's been working out but that's not the only indication that this track star is back on the come-up. In fact, this past weekend the Pickering native won silver at the 2010 world indoor championships in Doha, Qatar.

Perdita's strong return could not come any sooner for the legions of young athletes that really look up to her. In her prime and poised to make a great comeback, the world is watching once again.

Don't trip!

Thandiwe Vela is a Star radio room reporter, student-athlete and secretary of the Canadian Association of Black Journalists. tvela24@hotmail.com

Comments

[Delan A]

You felt her?

That girl is deezed?

Lovely Mary Anne Chambers? She is the Honourable Minister of Children and Youth Services!
Girl, I can't believe the editor let you write this piece. It's all slang!

Thanks for the links to the definitions, but still, the idea of writing to your audience prevails. It seems like you're writing to your friends on a gossip page. It's so amazing that you met this super athlete. Did you talk to her? You know, as a reporter, you could have asked her some questions, not just hugged her.... LOL.

[Rob Davis]

A blog is not supposed to be a typical report from some stiff reporter. It is supposed to offer uniquely insightful reflections from the writers point of view. Personally I like these tidbits from the star interns et al because it offers a perspective that they can not always offer up in a straight assignment. You may have noticed that the newspaper business has lost readership to blogs and other non-traditional news platforms. So the Star is smart to try and win back that readership even if it means using slang or colloquial words.

[Chenesai]

Rob is absolutely right about what a blog is supposed to be. I particularly enjoy visiting the toronto star website to hear the individual voices of these interns as the news stories can be found everywhere and a lot of the regular 'status quo' columnists are unfortunately becoming irrelevant. If it seems like it's a friends gossip page, that's 'cool' because that's the 'vibe' a blog is supposed to project. As for the subject matter, I'm disappointed there hasn't been more coverage of the silver medal at the worlds that Perdita won, even though this wasn't a formal report on it at least she acknowledged it.

[Kay Nicole]

@ Delan Officially speaking, the author referred to Mary Anne Chambers correctly, Since Mrs. Chambers is a retired Minister, she is no longer referred to as "The Honorable". Lovely, Mrs., Extraordinary, Wonderful all work just fine :-).