It was not the season opener she was hoping for on Saturday in the women’s 60 metres at the Gibson McCook Relays, but for Jamaican sprinter Kemba Nelson, it was a step in the right direction.

Nelson, 23, finished a disappointing fifth in the A final of the women’s 60m event in 7.22 seconds at the National Stadium. The race was won by Remona Burchell in 7.04.

Nelson, who returned home from college at the end of last season to join the Elite Performance Track club, which is being led by Reynoldo Walcott, told the Jamaica Observer that since joining the club, which also includes back-to-back reining world 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, she has had to adjust her running style to ensure that her execution is right.

“It was my first race and it was probably not what I wanted, but call it a rust buster because I have been practising trying to basically relearn track and field the right way and not just running fast, but running fast doing it correctly,” said Nelson.

“I wanted to see where I am at and how I look, [as] getting this new technique down… is a process,” said the former Mount Alvernia High School star.

Nelson, who has a personal best time of 10.88 in the 100m, which she achieved at the National Championships in June last year, made it to the semi-finals of the women’s 100m at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in 2022.

The former University of Oregon star was the fourth fastest Jamaican woman last year behind Fraser-Pryce (10.62 seconds), Shericka Jackson (10.71) and Elaine Thompson-Herah (10.79).

Nelson shared that her training has been going well because she has seen a lot of improvement in her abilities on the track. She hopes that she will be able to make the final of this year’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and win a medal for her country. “It [training] is going good and I am making progress where progress needs to be done and [I am] looking forward to doing better. It is the same goal, nothing changes. I made the semi-finals of the World Championships [last year] and I would love to make the final this year, and who knows, to be on the podium,” she said.

Nelson noted that training with Fraser-Pryce is added motivation for her.

“I have trained with her before, but now we are much closer. She is helping me where she can, and so having her as a training partner is really a good privilege,” she ended.