Congrats Veronica and the team!!

In 22.04 seconds, 200 m sprinter Veronica Campbell clinched Jamaica’s first gold medal of the 2004 Athens Olympics, catapualting the nation into joyous celebrations.

While still revelling in that joy Veronica and the relay team (Sherone, Aleen and Tayna) moved a step higher as they tore down the track to win gold in the 4 x 100m relays.

Campbell, a 22 year-old past student of the Vere Technical High School is no stranger to the track, having caught the full attention of the Jamaican public at the World Junior Championships in 2002, but last Wednesday’s victory has lofted her into the elite club of Jamaican greats that includes Deon Hemmings, Donald Quarrie, Arthur Wint and George Rhoden. Before her gold medal in the 200m, Campbell also captured Jamaica’s first medal in Athens for her run in the 100m, finishing third to take home a bronze medal.

Last Wednesday, the eyes and ears of Jamaica were glued to televisions islandwide, and after her triumph, the celebrations were spread far and wide. At the Portmore Mall in St Catherine, the deafening roar scared several shoppers who didn’t realise what was going on, while all around Kingston, motorists honked horns and flashed lights for hours after the race. In Hayes, Clarendon, Campbell’s mother Pauline Bailey shed tears of joy, while her surrogate parents, mentor Neville Myton and his wife Paulette shouted praises and clanged pot covers in jubilation.

“My plan was just to get out there and run the race of my life,” Campbell told reporters after winning the race ahead of American Allyson Felix, Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas and her friend and teammate, Jamaica’s Aleen Bailey.

Well, she did run the race of her life, and all woman salutes her and the rest of the team (Sherone, Aleen and Tayna) for a fine performance. We are proud of our great Jamaican women.