Jamaica’s 2008 Olympic 100m silver medallist Sherone Simpson will not be taking part in Jamaica’s Senior Championship and by extension the Rio Olympic Games, due to a niggling injury and pregnancy.

Simpson, 31, told the Jamaica Observer in an exclusive interview yesterday, that the hamstring injury was taking a toll on her body and she decided to take time out to start a family.

“I really didn’t want to miss my fourth Olympic, but the hamstring was really bad and it was bothering me and this time it had me out of training,” said Simpson.

“The injury wasn’t getting any better so I took time out to start a family,” she revealed.

Simpson has not entered for either the 100m or the 200m at the Senior Championship scheduled for June 30-July 3 at the National Stadium, which serves as a qualifier for the Rio Olympic Games in August.

A despondent Simpson said the injury acted up again in December and again after her first indoor race in Boston in February, where she finished fifth in the 60m, with 7.36 seconds.

She added that she came back to Jamaica and it wasn’t that bad, but again, after competing in Arkansas, the discomfort persisted and she had to seek medical advice from two separate doctors.

Simpson, a former Manchester High athlete, burst on the scene at the 2004 Athens Olympics, striking gold as a part of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team of Veronica Campbell-Brown, Aleen Bailey and Kerron Stewart.

She would gain silver at the 2005 World Championships in the 4x100m relay before being historically tied with Stewart for silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics behind Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, as Jamaica swept the podium.

That was a remarkable performance from Simpson, who placed third in her first-round heat behind Yevgeniya Polyakova and Jade Bailey in a time of 11.48 seconds.

Simpson then improved her time to 11.02 seconds to win her second-round heat ahead of American Muna Lee and Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas.

She was fourth in her semi-final in 11.11 seconds, but from lane one, she saved her best for last and lowered her time even further to 10.98 seconds, in which the photo finish could not separate her from her countrywoman, Stewart for silver.

With a personal best of 10.82 seconds, Simpson is the fifth-fastest among Jamaican women behind national record holder Fraser-Pryce (10.70), Merlene Ottey (10.74), Kerron Stewart (10.75) and Campbell-Brown (10.76).

Simpson’s 200m best of 22.00 seconds makes her the seventh-fastest Jamaican behind Ottey (21.64), Elaine Thompson (21.66), Grace Jackson (21.72), Campbell-Brown (21.74), Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn (21.75) and Stewart (21.99).

One of Simpson’s greatest victories was in 2006 when she defeated the then reigning Olympic champion, Campbell-Brown in the 200m to win the Commonwealth Games title.

Simpson will certainly be missed at the Olympics for Jamaica as she has been a fixture of her country’s successful 4x100m relay teams over the years.

Simpson struck gold in the 4x100m in 2004, and was second in the relays at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. She also won relay gold at the 2015 World Championships and was on two silver-winning relay teams in 2005 and 2011.

The outstanding Simpson, who won the 200m at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, also captured gold in the 4×100 relay and was the 2015 Pan American Games 100m champion.