The Olympic début of the living legend Mrs Veronica Campbell Brown at the 2000 edition of the Games in Sydney, Australia, pre-dated the birth of some competitors at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Senior championships (National Trials) which opened yesterday.

Her consistent excellence apart, its testament to her endurance, commitment, and hard work that, until announcement of her retirement on Wednesday, Mrs Campbell Brown was seen, at age 39, as a candidate for selection to the Jamaica team for the Tokyo Olympics next month.

Since she first came to prominence as a sprinter of enormous potential at Vere Technical High School in the 1990s, Mrs Campbell Brown has without fail demonstrated the courage and determination so characteristic of women who have played lead roles in the fortunes of this country.

Having dominated at the junior level, locally and globally, Mrs Campbell Brown ran the second leg of Jamaica’s 4X100m relay which earned silver in Sydney while still a teenager. Four years later — established as a star at the collegiate level in the US — she took the Olympics in Athens by storm.

A bronze medal in the 100 metres was followed by gold in the 200 metres, beating the great American Allyson Felix into second place. That gold medal was only the second for a Jamaican woman at the Olympic Games — following that achieved by the indomitable Ms Deon Hemmings in Atlanta, 1996.

Just as crucially, Mrs Campbell-Brown anchored the Jamaican team to the 4X100m relay gold medal in Athens — the first 4X100 gold medal for Jamaica, regardless of gender.

In 2008 at Beijing, China, Mrs Campbell-Brown again won the 200m Olympic Gold, topping Ms Felix yet again.

The Jamaica Observer’s track and field scribe, Mr Paul Reid, tells us that Mrs Campbell Brown has “garnered nearly 30 medals at major international competitions, including two gold in the 200m at the Olympic Games and two bronze medals in the 100m; gold in both the 100m and 200m at the World Championships; two gold medals in the 60m at the World Indoors; 12 national senior titles and gold medals at the World Under-18 and Under-20 Championships”.

President of the JAAA Mr Garth Gayle was particularly on point, hailing Mrs Campbell Brown for giving “more to the cause than anyone I could think of, putting her body through extreme rigours to get success for Jamaica and herself”.

Mrs Campbell Brown was never blessed with the rocket start so valuable in the shortest sprint, the 100 metres. But her sustained acceleration and will to win were second to none, which largely explains her command of the 200-metre event.

We note her own words in crediting the Almighty and those who have supported her, as well as her own sacrifices for her achievements.

That she gave back through her foundation is typical of her generosity of character.

Mrs Campbell Brown loves her sport. We know that as she moves on, she will find time to help the young ones, just as relatives, friends, coaches, and mentors, including Olympian Mr Neville Myton, who passed away recently, consistently supported her.

We speak for all Jamaica in wishing her all that’s good in the years ahead.