Sara Slot Petersen began competing in track and field at the age of 14. She soon discovered that she had a talent for running. Just three years later she finished fourth at the 2003 World Youth Championships in Paris, France. The next year, Sara became DenmarkâÂÂs first ever Youth Olympics Gold Medalist, winning the 400-ÂÂmeter hurdles. Sara then qualified and competed at every international youth and junior championships until she turned 20 years old and moved up to the senior division.
At the 2006 World Junior Championships, she set the Danish Junior Record in the 400ÃÂâÂÂmeter hurdles semifinal. On January 28, 2007, she set the Danish Under-23 Indoor Record in the 400-ÃÂmeter dash with a 2me of 55.19. The very next day, she broke the 200-meter dash record with a time of 24.43.
In 2008, Denmark awarded Sara with The Golden Puma, an award given to the best Danish female athlete.
During the 2009 indoor season, she competed at the European Indoor Championships and set the Danish Indoor National Record in the 400-ÃÂmeter dash with a 2me of 53.85 seconds. That summer, at the European Team Championships, Sara broke her own 400-ÃÂmeter hurdle record with a time of 56.70. She then be'ered that record at the World University Games with a time of 56.40. This time also qualified Sara for the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany. At the 2009 World Championships, Sara ran her second fastest time ever and qualified for the semifinals.
Sara suffered chronic foot injuries during the 2010 season. Despite these setbacks, she still qualified and competed at the European Championships.
At a meet in Ljubljana this past July, Sara once again beat her own 400ÃÂâÂÂmeter hurdle record and qualified for the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea where she eventually reached the semifinal.
As Sara begins training for the 2012 Olympics, she will once again look to represent her country as the face of Danish athletics.
