Thirty-five years ago, St Jago High’s Juliet Campbell turned in one of the best performances at the then ISSA Girls’ Championship capturing the Class Two 400m in a record 53.5 seconds in 1987.

But not many people may know the backstory of the then pencil-slim Campbell who was tricked into running the 400m having entered St Jago as a jumper.

Campbell, who went on to become World Indoor 200m champion in 2000 and represented Jamaica at three Olympic Games between 1992-2000 in the 400m, reminisced with the Jamaica Observer.

“Georgia Harrison, she was the person Coach Carl Marsh tricked me into running the 400m with. She had a 400m to run at Champs and she was fussing and crying and afraid to run and Coach Marsh was like just go ahead and keep her company,” Campbell revealed.

“I was a jumper, just starting to learn to run and he threw me in the 400 with her and they were taking too long and I just ran away and left all of them and from that day I was doing 400 running,” she added.

Harrison, who is now one of her best friends, was fourth in the Class Three 400m the year before and was no slouch and that forced Coach Marsh to switch Campbell to the 400m event.

“It was never my event. I went to St Jago (from Donald Quarrie High) as a jumper and they started teaching me how to sprint, next thing I ended up in the 400,” she pointed out.

Campbell went on to break the Class Two record clocking 53.5 and what made that run special was that it was way below the time done by the older Class One winner who stopped the clock at 55.6.

But for the humble Campbell, at that time, that record run did not dawn on her until years later.

“I just remembered after finishing the race it was this big deal and I did not grasp what big of a moment it was at that time. It wasn’t a big deal to me,” said Campbell.

She continued: “Yea they told me but I was like hey I just ran the 400 and it was really taxing on my body and the side effect. I was this little girl under 100 pounds running, it was really tough. You talking about the nose bleed, the backache, the toothache and all the things I went through. It wasn’t easy for me but I didn’t know how grand it was at the time”.

Campbell, who continued to show remarkable improvement, won the Under-20 400m at the regional Carifta Games in 53.36 and was second in 1989.

But despite her personal success, Campbell never experienced a Champs victory as Vere Technical High School dominated in no uncertain manner, winning for 15 consecutive years.

“We had rough times those years when Vere was dominating. It was really, really tough as we came close a few times and it just never happens,” said Campbell.

But the elegant runner, who has a personal best of 22.50 over the 200m and 50.11 for the 400m, thought her relay leg on a 4x400m team was her best memory of Champs.

“One of my best memories at Champs is this 4×4 leg in 1987 where we didn’t stand a chance of winning this 4×4 and Vere got the stick and they were long gone. But I don’t know where I got the energy from to run them down, catch up and put several metres and we won the 4×4 that was one of my best memories,” Campbell revealed.

Now Puma’s manager, sports marketing, Campbell is enjoying life on the sidelines.

“I certainly enjoyed being on this side of the fence. We have an immense amount of talent in Jamaica along with the rest of the Caribbean and I enjoy the process of seeing athletes, picking athletes that I think will be good for the future,” said Campbell.

She continued: “Not necessarily the ones that are winning. Not necessarily the popular ones. Not necessarily the champions.”

“But to sit there and identify athletes that have the potential and I feel good about my ability and opportunity to help these athletes to achieve their goals, to be good or great athletes, medal winners to be champions.

“So, I take great pride in that especially with our Jamaican athletes to make sure I seek to help them in every way possible. The sporting business is not an easy business and that’s another thing I am trying to instill in our athletes,” Campbell pointed out.

“There are athletes that are good but there are influences around them and we try to show them the right path. It is difficult and challenging but yet I try.

“I have helped an enormous amount of athletes in Jamaica some known, some unknown and it is something that I look forward to continuing to do. I do enjoy my job and I enjoy the process of selecting Jamaica’s future champions,” said Campbell.