Berlin: Veronica Campbell-Brown has put the injuries behind her and feels ready to claim a world championships sprint double, the two times Olympic 200 metres gold medallist said on Friday.
“I’ve had some setbacks,” the Jamaican, who is also the world 100 metres champion, told a news conference. “But my body is in shape (now).”
A toe injury and a more recent hamstring cramp have meant a low-key season for the athlete but neither should hamper her drive for the world sprint double that eluded her in 2007, Campbell-Brown said.
“I have no problem at all,” said the 27-year-old. “Since the (hamstring) injury I ran Athens and Monte Carlo and I have not had any problem with it. It’s good.”
Campbell-Brown’s 10.96 seconds over 100 metres at Athens ranks her as the fifth fastest woman of the season and her 22.37 in the 200 in Barcelona puts her fourth, with only American rival Allyson Felix under 22 seconds this year.
That she would try for world double again was never in doubt.
“It is hard for me to come a track meet and sit down and just run one event when I know that I am very good in both,” Campbell-Brown said.
She won the 100 metres world title at Osaka in 2007 in a photo finish with American Lauryn Williams, then took second to Felix in the longer race.Campbell-Brown gained revenge in Beijing, getting the better of Felix in the 200 while Jamaican team mates Shelly-Ann Fraser, Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson swept the Olympic 100 metres medals.
Felix RivalryHer rivalry with Felix is friendly but serious.
“Allyson and I have been sharing the wins for many years now,” Campbell-Brown said of Felix, the 2005 and 2007 200 metres world champion and twice Olympic runner-up to the Jamaican.
“So whenever I compete with her, I make sure I am ready to run.”
The 100 is likely to be another Caribbean-U.S. showdown with Stewart, Fraser, American Carmelita Jeter and Trinidad’s Kelly-Ann Baptiste at the top of the year list.
Campbell-Brown will need to improve her 100 metres to give the Jamaicans a chance of duplicating their Olympic sweep.
“It’s a possibility,” she said.
“For Jamaica a lot of the ladies are running really fast obviously, and the competition will be fierce,” Campbell-Brown said. “So I think it is going to come down to the person who executes the race from the beginning to the end.”
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, August 14, 2009, 18:42
