Extremely tired and fatigued in social media class, February
20, 2014, I browsed a familiar track and field website and was shell-shocked at
the headline that I saw, “VCB banned for 2 years by the International Association Athletics Federations
(IAAF)!” How could this be I thought? At first I thought that I was dreaming…
I texted another avid fan of the sport and to my dismay it was true. I couldn’t
keep it to myself; I had to share it with a fellow classmate. I was saddened…
The questioned I first ask myself during this gruelling ordeal
since June 2013 was, “how could this
be?” As an avid fan of the sport, I witnessed Veronica Campbell-Brown when she
first emerged on the scene in 1998, during the then Milo Girls Track and Field
Championship. Knocked-knee, with a curvaceous physique I brimmed with smile as
I reminisce the class II girls 100m finals. VCB placed third in 12.25 second behind teammate
Aileen Bailey (11.68s). By the end of the season, VCB won the Central America and Caribbean (CAC) games under-17 100m in
11.72s and earned a place en route to the
World Junior Championship to be held in Annecy, France; even though she did not advance from the preliminary round of the 100 meter(m) that suffice well for the next one.
VCB CROSSES THE FINISH LINE AT THE WORLD JUNIORS
In July 2000, VCB sets tongue wagging, first equalling Nicole
Mitchell’s national Junior record of 11.18s en route to winning the CAC under-20 100m finals. In the 100m semifinals of the
Jamaican Senior Olympic Trials, VCB lowered it to 11.16s while placing second in
her heat, qualifying for the finals and would be a member of the women’s 400m
relay pool in Sydney, Australia. Just only 18 years old, VCB ran the backstretch of the silver
medal winning 4x100m team showing a glimpse of what her future would be. At the
World Juniors held late in October, in Santiago, Chile (known by many in the
track world as an off season) she became the first junior in history to win the
sprint double! Her times of 11.12 and 22.87seconds respectively were both championship
records.
VCB decimates the opposition@ the 2000 World Juniors
In June 2002 during her years as a student at the Barton Community College in
USA, she won the sprint double at the Junior College Championship posting 11.17s and 22.39s respectively while battling negiglible wind reading. Later in July, she lowered her personal record over the 100m to 11.00s earning silver at
the commonwealth games in Manchester, England: and also anchored the women’s
4x100m team to another silver medal.
In 2004 while studying at the University of Arkansas,
following an injury-prone 2003 season, VCB demolished her role model and
Jamaica’s legendary Merlene Ottey’s indoor National Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA)
200m record of 22.79 to an astonishing 22.40s! By the end of the year VCB would
be crowned the Olympic 200m champion.
Relive Veronica's first Olympic Gold medal!
I highlighted all of that because fast-forwarding to June
2013- when the track and field world was jolted into a frenzy by the media which ran away with the coveted headline -"VCB returns positive test!", I pondered, why would VCB need any prohibited substance to run faster?
Lucidly I saw the race she ran at the Jamaica International Invitational. Many
questioned her whirlwind kick coming from the "dead" to win the 100m, for it was at
this very meet that she tested positive for a banned diuretic. But in truth for any fan of the sport, VCB trademarks as
always been her top-end speed.
What really is a
diuretic? From my research, it is also known as water pill used to aid
patients with high blood pressure; it rid the body of unneeded water and salt
through the urine and make it easier for the heart to pump. There in a
nutshell, you tell me if this is really worth a banned?
Athletes of the sport if ever a time, needs to form a committee
to challenge the banned list issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for in
truth this will sourly put scar an athlete’s reputation. Interestingly two
other premier Jamaican sprinter also test positive for banned stimulants and if
only you know what those supplements are used for- that however is for another blog!
Subsequently she was reprimand by our nation’s federation of the
sport- the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), last year.
However, the IAAF banned her this month – a decision that has been
recently overturned by the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration of Sport. VCBwas cleared to resume her career. The Court of Arbitration for Sports has also
ordered the Jamaican Athletics Administration Association to pay a portion of
Campbell-Brown's costs in connection with the appeal.
The drama that unfolded during this debacle and the agony
that "Queen" VCB faced surely must be horrendous. But as a true testimony to class, perseverance and her devoted faith,
she overcome and has gained her redemption. I can only imagine the naysayers now… as "Queen"
VCB continue to rewrite the sprint chronicles! All hail the "Queen"! Free at last!
