The absence of defending World Championships 200m gold medallist Veronica Campbell Brown from Jamaica’s team to the biennial meet in Moscow, Russia, could affect the quality of medals to be won by Jamaica, says national senior team head coach Maurice Wilson.

Her absence, he also said, would weaken the 4x100m relay team.

“Veronica Campbell Brown has medalled in almost every senior championships she has been to and her absence from the Jamaican team could affect the quality of the medals we could win,” Wilson told the Jamaica Observer yesterday, on the eve of the JAAA/Supreme Ventures National Senior Championships.

On Tuesday the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) announced that Campbell Brown had “voluntarily withdrawn herself from competition and accepted the provisional suspension” after she was identified as having returned a positive test for a banned substance at the Jamaica International Invitational meeting held at the National Stadium in early May.

Without the multiple medal-winning Campbell Brown, who attended her first Olympic Games in 2000 as an 18-year-old Vere Technical schoolgirl, Wilson said it would prove even more difficult to go up against arch-rivals the United States in the 4x100m relays.

In their most recent meeting the Jamaican team ran a National Record 41.41 seconds but finished second to the USA that ran a World Record 40.82 seconds.

Wilson, who was in charge of the Jamaican teams to the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea and the Olympic Games in London last year, said he was confident that the level of professionalism in the team would drive others to lift their standards.

“I do believe we have lots of professionalism in the team, and while we will miss Veronica’s experience and leadership qualities, we have others who we are confident will give of their best.”