NEXT week’s Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Senior Trials could be the last time multiple World Championships and Olympic Games medallist Veronica Campbell Brown races on local soil as she has hinted this could be her final year in competitive track and field.

The 39-year-old will be hoping it will not be her final competition as she has ambitions of making a sixth appearance at the Olympic Games, whether it is in the 100m or as part of the Jamaican women’s 4x100m team.

Campbell Brown is one of the most decorated female sprinters, with four individual medals from the Olympic Games and seven from the World Championships.

Campbell Brown told the Jamaica Observer last week she would only be contesting the 100m at the championships that are set to start on Thursday at National Stadium. She had long hinted that she was close to calling time on her career after the birth of her daughter Avianna.

“After the birth of my daughter I made the decision to commit one more season to track, as my passion and drive for competing is still intense,” she said.

“Although it is challenging, I am fortunate to have the support to create an environment where I can train and provide Avianna the care, attention and love she needs,” Campbell Brown said.

The two-time Olympic Games 200m champion said her choice to only run the 100m was made because, “My training has been geared more towards the 100m, so it will be the only event I will contest at trials.”

Campbell Brown, who has won gold medals at every level of competition and who has a season’s best 11.20 seconds set earlier this month but is yet to get the Olympic qualifying standard of 11.15 seconds, said she is not worried.

“My objective going into the trials was to run the Olympic qualifying standard, [and] I fell short of that goal but I am confident in my ability to run below 11 seconds,” she said.

With the outstanding forms of the top female Jamaican sprinters, Campbell Brown knows she has her work cut out for her if she is to make the final of the 100m and finish in the top three.

Campbell Brown, who made her first Olympic team as part of the relay pool in 2000, said: “I must admit this is my most difficult season, and being away from competition for over two years made it even more challenging to return to top form,” she noted.

— Paul Reid