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SHERONE SIMPSON: AN EXAMPLE OF TRUE GRIT
Six years ago Sherone Simpson made the world sit up and take notice when she ran the fastest time in the world in both the 100 metres (10.82) and 200 metres (22.00 twice). During that year – 2006 – Simpson, who took home a silver medal as a member of Jamaica’s sprint relay team at the Olymic Games in Athens two years earlier, added to her collection upsetting favourite Veronica Campbell Brown to win gold over the 200 metres at the Commonwealth Games in Australia that year. A second gold came as a member of that sprint relay team as Jamaica dominated those Games like never before.
But just as quickly as success would come for the sprinter from Devon in Manchester, injury had her limping towards 2007. Troubled by knee pain, Simpson opted for knee surgery at the end of the 2006 season and missed the boat to Osaka in Japan. She managed to recover enough to eke out a place in the Olympic team to Beijing in 2008 and came away from those Games with a silver medal in the 100 metres and a gold from the sprint relay. The great irony is that she almost never made it to Beijing as her knee had started to become a bother again and she seriously considered returning home from camp in Europe because as she puts it “I was in so much pain.”
Simpson’s world champs jinx continued in 2009 when she failed to make the team to Berlin and struggled though most of 2010, even though she seemed to be on the way back from her second knee surgery after the Olympic Games. In 2011, she declared herself fit but then proceeded to struggle throughout the season, running, by her standards, ordinary times. Though consistently in the low 11s, she did not seem capable of returning to the form of 2006 when she was on top of the world. She made the team to Daegu but failed to make the 100 metre team and only just making the 200 metre team. As it turns out she finished last in the finals at worlds but came away with a silver medal in the sprint relay.
Something happened though last season that could make Simpson see better results for her hard work in 2012. Through her struggles she discovered that her two knee surgeries had caused her to lose strength in her left quadricep muscle. What resulted is that in races her left leg would start to trail her right leg, affecting her cadence and ultimately her speed and speed endurance. She worked hard in the off season to get the strength of that quad on par with that of her right.
2012 has started out with a bang. 51.42 over the 400 metres at the Grace Jackson Invitational is an indicator that the speedy little woman from Manchester may be on her way back. It’s her second fastest time in the 400 metres and may very well mean that she is getting back to the place where sub-11 times are the norm for her. If that happens then London 2012 could see the return of this hardworking but often frustrated Jamaican star.
Perhaps 2012 will be her 2006, when she will once again be queen of the sprints.
http://gleanerblogs.com/sports/?p=1088
Six years ago Sherone Simpson made the world sit up and take notice when she ran the fastest time in the world in both the 100 metres (10.82) and 200 metres (22.00 twice). During that year – 2006 – Simpson, who took home a silver medal as a member of Jamaica’s sprint relay team at the Olymic Games in Athens two years earlier, added to her collection upsetting favourite Veronica Campbell Brown to win gold over the 200 metres at the Commonwealth Games in Australia that year. A second gold came as a member of that sprint relay team as Jamaica dominated those Games like never before.
But just as quickly as success would come for the sprinter from Devon in Manchester, injury had her limping towards 2007. Troubled by knee pain, Simpson opted for knee surgery at the end of the 2006 season and missed the boat to Osaka in Japan. She managed to recover enough to eke out a place in the Olympic team to Beijing in 2008 and came away from those Games with a silver medal in the 100 metres and a gold from the sprint relay. The great irony is that she almost never made it to Beijing as her knee had started to become a bother again and she seriously considered returning home from camp in Europe because as she puts it “I was in so much pain.”
Simpson’s world champs jinx continued in 2009 when she failed to make the team to Berlin and struggled though most of 2010, even though she seemed to be on the way back from her second knee surgery after the Olympic Games. In 2011, she declared herself fit but then proceeded to struggle throughout the season, running, by her standards, ordinary times. Though consistently in the low 11s, she did not seem capable of returning to the form of 2006 when she was on top of the world. She made the team to Daegu but failed to make the 100 metre team and only just making the 200 metre team. As it turns out she finished last in the finals at worlds but came away with a silver medal in the sprint relay.
Something happened though last season that could make Simpson see better results for her hard work in 2012. Through her struggles she discovered that her two knee surgeries had caused her to lose strength in her left quadricep muscle. What resulted is that in races her left leg would start to trail her right leg, affecting her cadence and ultimately her speed and speed endurance. She worked hard in the off season to get the strength of that quad on par with that of her right.
2012 has started out with a bang. 51.42 over the 400 metres at the Grace Jackson Invitational is an indicator that the speedy little woman from Manchester may be on her way back. It’s her second fastest time in the 400 metres and may very well mean that she is getting back to the place where sub-11 times are the norm for her. If that happens then London 2012 could see the return of this hardworking but often frustrated Jamaican star.
Perhaps 2012 will be her 2006, when she will once again be queen of the sprints.
http://gleanerblogs.com/sports/?p=1088
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