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So close - yet so far - for track queen Veronica
published: Friday | July 4, 2008
DUMBSTRUCK. NO one said a word. Couldn't have. The Jamaican track queen - Veronica Campbell-Brown - had finished fourth, out of the frame. She did not make the cut.
It happened so fast, just inside 10.9 seconds, but took longer before the stark realisation began to set in. Then came the murmurs, in even more lethargic fashion than Campbell-Brown leaving the blocks, stuttering attempts really in search of an explanation for her placing at the Jamaican trials.
With an Olympic 200m and World Championship 100m gold numbering among nine individual and relay team medals from both major champion-ships as well as a plethora of other medals (double World Junior Cham-pionships sprint champion, World Youth Games gold medallist, etc), the 26-year-old Campbell-Brown had said she wanted to win the Olympic 100m gold medal to complete her medal chest.
No likely chance
"I would especially like to win the 100m because it is the premier event in the sprints," she was quoted as saying in The Weekend Star last Friday. "I feel that I have the potential to capture that gold medal and that's exactly what my coach and I are working towards."
She continued: "I have 100m titles at World Youth, World Junior, World Championships and I feel like I definitely have to win the Olympics to complete the set."
Well, it doesn't appear as if it will be happening this time, unless some stroke of ill-luck befalls the trio that claimed the first three places of the very fast race.
Kerron Stewart won in 10.80 seconds, Shelly-Ann Fraser was second in 10.85 and Sherone Simpson was third in 10.87. Campbell-Brown was marginally slower, 10.88 for fourth.
I cannot recall a 100m women's event in Jamaica in which four persons recorded times in the 10.8s. In 2006, when she was at the top of her game and ranked number one in the world for both the 100m and 200m, Simpson ran 10.82 at the National Stadium.
That apart, it's been some time, maybe as far back as the late '80s with Merlene Ottey and Juliet Cuthbert, that women have produced such 10.8-running inside the stadium.
Though she placed fourth, Campbell-Brown actually ran fast, equalling the time that leading into the trials was the world's best.
Loophole in criteria
Given her achievements and tried, tested and proven qualities, there is huge and understandable sentiment for Campbell-Brown - Jamaica's first and only individual Olympic sprint gold medallist - to be given an individual lane in the 100m in Beijing.
Besides that, there is also some amount of confidence among many Jamaicans regarding the experience factor, as Campbell-Brown has delivered time and again on the big occasions. Her personal record is 10.85.
However, the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) rules governing selection are very clear.
The rules state: "Athletes placing in the first to third positions in all events will be selected, provided that they have attained the qualifying 'A' standard for the competition; the fourth-place athlete will be named as an alternate for the individual event."
If there is a chance of Campbell-Brown competing in the 100m, there exists a loophole in the same criteria.
It says: "All athletes must maintain and prove their competitive fitness up to the time of the final entry date for the competition."
Case in point, the controversial inclusion of Ottey ahead of 2000 national champion Peta-Gaye Dowdie for the Sydney Olympics.
Dowdie was deemed not to have proven her competitive fitness after the trial and Ottey, who placed fourth at the national trials, was elevated to an individual spot. Ottey is the most decorated female athlete in Olympic and World Championships history.
Still, the switch did not go down well with some members of the Jamaican squad, mostly the juniors, who carried out a demonstration at the Games in Australia.
Serious matters
What it shows is that these matters concerning the Olympics - the ultimate event for any track and field athlete - are not taken lightly. They mean much, or everything, in an athlete's career.
Any female running sub-11 is likely to make the Olympic final. Even if they last through to the semis, there is every likelihood that they could win a lane on the lucrative grand prix circuit, which is where they earn their livelihood.
The trials - guided by rules - are a very important stage in the whole phase of development, and other than through a stroke of luck, most times, the performance at that moment is what counts. At times they are awe-inspiring. On other occasions, they leave you speechless.
Feedback: audley.boyd@gleanerjm.com
published: Friday | July 4, 2008
DUMBSTRUCK. NO one said a word. Couldn't have. The Jamaican track queen - Veronica Campbell-Brown - had finished fourth, out of the frame. She did not make the cut.
It happened so fast, just inside 10.9 seconds, but took longer before the stark realisation began to set in. Then came the murmurs, in even more lethargic fashion than Campbell-Brown leaving the blocks, stuttering attempts really in search of an explanation for her placing at the Jamaican trials.
With an Olympic 200m and World Championship 100m gold numbering among nine individual and relay team medals from both major champion-ships as well as a plethora of other medals (double World Junior Cham-pionships sprint champion, World Youth Games gold medallist, etc), the 26-year-old Campbell-Brown had said she wanted to win the Olympic 100m gold medal to complete her medal chest.
No likely chance
"I would especially like to win the 100m because it is the premier event in the sprints," she was quoted as saying in The Weekend Star last Friday. "I feel that I have the potential to capture that gold medal and that's exactly what my coach and I are working towards."
She continued: "I have 100m titles at World Youth, World Junior, World Championships and I feel like I definitely have to win the Olympics to complete the set."
Well, it doesn't appear as if it will be happening this time, unless some stroke of ill-luck befalls the trio that claimed the first three places of the very fast race.
Kerron Stewart won in 10.80 seconds, Shelly-Ann Fraser was second in 10.85 and Sherone Simpson was third in 10.87. Campbell-Brown was marginally slower, 10.88 for fourth.
I cannot recall a 100m women's event in Jamaica in which four persons recorded times in the 10.8s. In 2006, when she was at the top of her game and ranked number one in the world for both the 100m and 200m, Simpson ran 10.82 at the National Stadium.
That apart, it's been some time, maybe as far back as the late '80s with Merlene Ottey and Juliet Cuthbert, that women have produced such 10.8-running inside the stadium.
Though she placed fourth, Campbell-Brown actually ran fast, equalling the time that leading into the trials was the world's best.
Loophole in criteria
Given her achievements and tried, tested and proven qualities, there is huge and understandable sentiment for Campbell-Brown - Jamaica's first and only individual Olympic sprint gold medallist - to be given an individual lane in the 100m in Beijing.
Besides that, there is also some amount of confidence among many Jamaicans regarding the experience factor, as Campbell-Brown has delivered time and again on the big occasions. Her personal record is 10.85.
However, the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) rules governing selection are very clear.
The rules state: "Athletes placing in the first to third positions in all events will be selected, provided that they have attained the qualifying 'A' standard for the competition; the fourth-place athlete will be named as an alternate for the individual event."
If there is a chance of Campbell-Brown competing in the 100m, there exists a loophole in the same criteria.
It says: "All athletes must maintain and prove their competitive fitness up to the time of the final entry date for the competition."
Case in point, the controversial inclusion of Ottey ahead of 2000 national champion Peta-Gaye Dowdie for the Sydney Olympics.
Dowdie was deemed not to have proven her competitive fitness after the trial and Ottey, who placed fourth at the national trials, was elevated to an individual spot. Ottey is the most decorated female athlete in Olympic and World Championships history.
Still, the switch did not go down well with some members of the Jamaican squad, mostly the juniors, who carried out a demonstration at the Games in Australia.
Serious matters
What it shows is that these matters concerning the Olympics - the ultimate event for any track and field athlete - are not taken lightly. They mean much, or everything, in an athlete's career.
Any female running sub-11 is likely to make the Olympic final. Even if they last through to the semis, there is every likelihood that they could win a lane on the lucrative grand prix circuit, which is where they earn their livelihood.
The trials - guided by rules - are a very important stage in the whole phase of development, and other than through a stroke of luck, most times, the performance at that moment is what counts. At times they are awe-inspiring. On other occasions, they leave you speechless.
Feedback: audley.boyd@gleanerjm.com