Veronica Campbell

From WikiRun

Veronica Angella Campbell-Brown C.D (1982-) is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for Jamaica.^[1] A five-time Olympic medallist, she is the reigning Olympic 200 metres champion. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she ran the 200 m in 21.74 seconds (the fastest time in a decade) and became the second woman in history to win two consecutive Olympic 200 m events, after Bärbel Wöckel of Germany did so at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.^[2]

Early life

Campbell was born to Cecil Campbell and Pamella Bailey in Trelawny, Jamaica on 15 May 1982. She has nine brothers and sisters and attended Vere Technical High School in Clarendon before pursuing higher education in the United States.

Junior career

In 1999, she won two gold medals the 100 m and 4 × 100 metres relay at the inaugural IAAF World Youth Championships. The following year, she became the first female to win the sprint double at the IAAF World Junior Championships. She took the 100 m in 11.12 s (the current championship record) and the 200 m in 22.87 s. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, she ran the second leg on the silver medal winning 4 × 100 m relay team. Campbell was the only female athlete to win both the 100 m and 200 m sprints at the same World Youth Championships, until Jodie Williams of Great Britain did so in 2009.

College career

Campbell attended Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kansas, where she set several records and won many titles including four national junior college titles in the 60, 100 and 200 metres both indoors and outdoors. She set the current record for Barton County CC in the outdoor 100 m and 200 m. Campbell also excelled in academics earning an associates degree from Barton County in 2002 with a 3.8 grade average. She later attended the University of Arkansas where she stood out as a sprint star in a program dominated by long-distance runners.

Professional career

At the 2004 Olympics, Campbell first placed third in the 100 m and two days later won the 200 m, beating out Allyson Felix of the United States. She later teamed up with Aleen Bailey, Tayna Lawrence, and Sherone Simpson to win the 4 × 100 m relay race.

In August 2005, Campbell won the silver medal in the 100 m at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics as well as another silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay (together with Daniele Browning, Aleen Bailey and Sherone Simpson).

At the 2007 World Championships, Campbell won three medals with a gold in the 100 m, a silver in the 200 m (second to Felix) and a silver in the 4 × 100 m relay.

At the 2008 Jamaican Olympic trials, she finished fourth in the 100 m, thereby missing the qualifying requirement to automatically make the Jamaican Olympic roster for that event. She clocked 10.88 m in the final, which is the second fastest time ever for a fourth place finish. She however bounced back to take the 200 m final in a personal best of 21.94 s. Failing to qualify for the 100 m, she only competed in the 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay at the Olympic Games. At the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, Veronica Campbell-Brown carried the Jamaican flag during the Athletes' Parade. She successfully defended her Olympic 200 m title in a new personal best time of 21.74 s. She competed at the 4 × 100 m relay together with Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sheri-Ann Brooks and Aleen Bailey. In the first round heats, Jamaica placed first in front of Russia, Germany and China. The Jamaican teams' time of 42.24 s was the first time overall out of sixteen participating nations. With this result, Jamaica qualified for the final, replacing Brooks and Bailey with Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart. Jamaica did not finish the race due to a mistake in the baton exchange.^[1]

At the end of the 2008 season, Campbell-Brown was selected the top 200 m runner in the world as well as the fourth best in the 100 m (following three other Jamaicans) by Track and Field News. She also finished eighth overall in voting for the magazine's Woman of the Year.^[3]

She qualified for her third World Championships by winning the 200 m national title. She beat runners up Shelly Ann Fraser and Simone Facey with a time of 22.40 seconds in June 2009, although a toe injury had left her lacking full fitness.^[4] At the 2009 World Championships Campbell-Brown was fourth in the 100 m final behind teammates Fraser and Stewart. She then won her second World 200 m silver behind American Allyson Felix. She closed the season at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, recording her fastest of the year (10.89) to take second behind Carmelita Jeter, who became the second fastest ever with 10.64 seconds.^[5] Although she was roundly beaten by Jeter, Campbell-Brown was the fourth fastest 100 m sprinter overall that season.^[6]

Personal life

In 2007, Campbell married Omar Brown, a fellow Jamaican sprinter and University of Arkansas alumnus.^[7] They currently live and train in Clermont, Florida. She was appointed as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in late 2009, and stated that she would use the role to promote gender equity in sport.^[8]

Achievements

Campbell-Brown's personal best of 10.78 s in the 100 m ranks her fourth among Jamaican women. Her 200 m best (21.74 s) ranks her in the all-time top ten in the world. This time is the third best among Jamaican women. It is the fastest time of the 21st Century, and the fastest since Marion Jones's 21.62 s in Johannesburg 1998.^[9]

Personal bests

• All information from IAAF Profile^[10]

Competition record

Commonwealth Games

External links

• IAAF profile for Veronica Campbell
• sports-reference.com profile
• IAAF "Focus on Athletes" article
• Veronica Campbell Photos

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Athlete biography: Veronica Campbell-Brown, beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 30, 2008
2. ↑ http://www.zimbio.com/Veronica+Campbell+Brown/articles/8/2008+SUMMER+OLYMPICS+Campbell+Brown+wins+200
3. ↑ Track & Field News February 2009
4. ↑ Foster, Anthony (2009-06-29). Bolt completes double; ‘Not 100%’ Veronica Campbell-Brown runs 22.40 – JAM Champs, Day 3. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-06-29.
5. ↑ Yung, Jean (2009-09-20). Gay 9.69 and Jeter 10.64 at 100m; Liu Xiang makes dazzling comeback – Shanghai Golden Grand Prix. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-10-07.
6. ↑ 100 Metres 2009. IAAF (2009-10-02). Retrieved on 2009-10-07.
7. ↑ Dead Link
8. ↑ Campbell-Brown, Veronica (2009-10-07). Veronica Campbell Brown named Unesco Ambassador - IAAF Online Diaries. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-10-07.
9. ↑ 200 Metres All Time. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-03-12.
10. ↑ Campbell-Brown, Veronica biography. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-03-12.