World champion despite her coach being in prison

Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Japan

ATHLETICS: At the age of 16 years, Veronica Campbell had her first bitter experience in the big league, making a first round exit at the IAAF World Junior Championship. She clocked 12.04 seconds in the 100m and finished sixth in her heat in Annecy.

Nine years ago, she clocked 11.49 seconds at the inaugural IAAF World Youth Championship to take the 100m gold. But none thought that she would win a World Championship gold this time around, especially when the mighty Americans were posing a big challenge.

But the 25-year-old Jamaican lass finally did that in style - a gold in women’s 100m which had a tense finish. Even after the race, she had to wait for nearly ten minutes to find the decision of the exciting photo finish. Campbell is the fastest woman at the 11th World Championship in Athletics, though her coach is behind the bars.

Undoubtedly, it’s a big celebration in Jamaica, as Campbell compensated for men’s 100m world record holder Asafa Powell’s fall to American Tyson Gay. Campbell now sets her sights on completing the double. But she would make no predictions. “I am just going to take it round by round, stay focused, and anything can happen in the final,” she said.

Apart from praising the contribution of her coach, Lance Brauman, Campbell was also grateful for the role played by former Jamaican sprint queen Merlene Ottey, who now runs for Slovenia. . It was at the 1993 World Championships, in Stuttgart that Ottey lost the closest 100m final by one-thousandth of a second to American Gail Devers.

Fourteen years later, Campbell turned it the other way around. This time, it was Jamaican Campbell who edged out American Lauran Williams in a similar photo finish at Nagai Stadium last night. As Ottey did then, Campbell last night had to suffer a long wait until the result was known.

Campbell thanked Ottey after her triumph. “Merlene Ottey is a wonderful person, she has always been my hero. We communicate on a regular basis.

She has always given me good encouragement,” she said. “A couple of weeks ago she e-mailed me to tell me that I am doing good and that, by the end of the year, my cup will overflow.

She is somebody I really admire, a very great athlete.” Campbell coach Brauman is prison for fraud offences while his athletes won gold, Campbell said: “I have not had that much chance to talk with Coach Brauman since I got here because my phone does not work and that is the number he has to contact me.”

However, Campbell shares her coach with Tyson Gay, the men’s 100m champion, and she added: “He (Brauman) did talk to Tyson and he gave him a message to give me today - he knows that I have been training very hard, that I should just go there and execute my race, and I will be victorious.”

The new World champion grew up in Trelawny, a parish in Jamaica which has produced many great Jamaican track and field athletes - Merlene Frazer, Ben Johnson, Michael Green, Usain Bolt. Population-wise it is one of the less inhabited parishes of the country due to the fact that it is mountainous terrain. It is a little less developed than other places.

Campbell has four sisters and five brothers. Her 13-year-old younger brother David is on the way up and needs to keep an eye on. He is attending the same high school - Vere Technical - which has produced Merlene Ottey, Merlene Frazer, Bev McDonald, Veronica Campbell, Simone Facey to name a few.

Like any other kid in Jamaica Campbells play games, climb trees, and Veronica was adept at it to the point that she was beating the boys at whatever games they played.

It was this habit that eventually lent itself to her competing in track and field. She was successful in the primary school championships and secured a scholarship to Vere, from which blossomed to be the World Youth 100m champions.

Campbell switched on from Vere Technical to Barton County (Kansas) College. That is where the Jamaican lass met her existing coach. Having transitioned to the University of Arkansas, she graduated last year.

With just an year to go for the Olympic Games in Beijing, Campbell is roaring to face future challenges as the new world champion.

OSAKA, Tuesday