With a love for all things Canadian, University of Idaho hurdler Christie Gordon has taken her patriotic pride and turned it into a focused determination on the track.
“I am like the most patriotic person ever. My room is painted Canada,” says Gordon, UI sophomore. “I am a huge Oilers fan. I want to go back to Edmonton. I am a hometown person.”

It is that zeal for her homeland that led Gordon to take time off after high school to ponder her future in the sport of track and field.
Idaho coach Wayne Phipps offered an opportunity to Gordon to become a Vandal, but coming to America wasn’t exactly what she had in mind.
“I took a year and a half off after high school because I didn’t know what I wanted to do and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to the States,” Gordon says.
During her time off, she became a master of the coffee bean, working at Starbucks and enjoying her time away from school.
But eventually the lure of running hurdles for a Division I program and the potential of being coached by two fellow Canadians was too much to pass up.
“I started to think I wanted to come down but I didn’t know if the opportunity had passed already,” Gordon says. “Coach Phipps is from Canada and Angela Whyte is from my city, so if she was still here I figured she must have liked it.”

And while Gordon’s career at Idaho is just starting and she has already proven to be a success, the hurdles have not always been an easy proposition.
After watching Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey break the world record and win the gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1996 Olympics, Gordon decided sprinting was what she wanted to do. But hurdles proved too difficult.
“The first time I tried it, one coach on my team laughed at me and made fun of me the entire practice, so I decided to put it on the backburner,” Gordon says. “Even the year I made the national team, the beginning of the season I never finished a race. I either fell or couldn’t get the stepping because I was generally shorter than everyone else. But then it just kind of clicked and I liked it a lot.”

It was in the 10th grade that Gordon made it onto Team Alberta to run at nationals, but the “being short” element is still around.
“Some of the bigger schools have huge girls. Last year, at the Seattle meet, one girl stole my blocks and she was way bigger than me so I didn’t say anything,” Gordon says. “I set my blocks down and I turned around and they were gone and she had taken them, but I didn’t want to say anything because she was so big.”
If that competitor had known more about Gordon however, she probably wouldn’t have made the decision to steal her blocks.

Armed with the smelliest feet on the entire track team, Gordon says she has a secret weapon at her disposal.
“Well I probably shouldn’t say this but I have really stinky feet. If you ask anybody on the team they will say I have the stinkiest feet by far,” Gordon says. “I just do. I try to hide it and be sneaky but everyone always smells them.”
Gordon placed the blame for the smelly feet on her track spikes, but perhaps it’s from her favorite food – tomatoes.
“I love tomatoes. My grandma used to give them to me, just big giant tomatoes. I would eat them like apples,” Gordon says.
Perhaps practicing with giant tomatoes also explains her unique hidden talent.
“I can fit my fist in my mouth,” Gordon says. “I have always had a big mouth and small hands, I think I just tried it one day and I could do it. I saw a lady on Oprah once because she could do that, so that’s my in.”

And whether or not Gordon makes it on to the Oprah Winfrey show, her unique ability should come in handy when she becomes a teacher.
Majoring in physical education and hoping to coach track and field, Gordon says she has always wanted to be a teacher.
“I just think that would be the best job to coach and teach P.E. That is my dream job,” Gordon says. “Ever since I was a kid, I have wanted to be a teacher, mostly because I wanted to write on the chalkboard and the whiteboard, and then P.E., though, because I just don’t want to sit at a desk. I figure if I can play with my kids it would be fun.”

Hanging out with kids all day would suit Gordon’s personality just fine, because she says she is just one big kid.
Describing herself as “super energetic” and “loud,” Gordon says she has always been a social butterfly.
“Growing up was super fun. I always had so much energy,” Gordon says. “My parents would just tell me to go outside and play, it was lots of fun. I did track mostly for the social aspect at first; I have always been a very social person.”
Gordon has also been very close to her family, specifically her two older brothers who have shaped who she has become today.
“I looked up to them,” Gordon says. “They always played sports so I always played sports. When they started riding their two-wheeler, I wanted to ride my two-wheeler. Kind of whatever they wanted to do I wanted to do.”

And growing up with two older brothers has made Gordon one tough competitor.
Coached by Phipps and Whyte, Gordon finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles at the WAC Indoor Championships last weekend.
But fourth place wasn’t good enough for Gordon. With the disappointment of not winning still fresh in her mind, Gordon is now looking toward the future and planning on adding another interesting fact to her already interesting life.
“I was really disappointed. I really thought I was going to get a personal best, but I will just look to outdoor and focus on that now,” Gordon says. “I want to win the WAC in the 100-meter hurdles. I really think I have a chance, so hopefully I can redeem myself. And I want the girls team to win WAC overall. It would be awesome to get a ring.”

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