Campbell to defend 200m Olympic Gold; Sands to jump in Beijing
 Former Barton Community College star and reigning Olympic Gold Medalist in the 200m Veronica Campbell-Brown will be defending her title in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing later this summer after earning a spot on the Jamaican Team this weekend during Olympic Trials in the country. Campbell won the 200m but will not be competing in the 100m at this year’s Olympics, finishing 4th in a highly competitive finals. Also earning a spot from the Caribbean will be Leevan Sands from the Bahamas, after winning the nations triple jump title. For Sands it will be a return trip to track and field’s highest stage after competing in the 2004 Olympics in the triple.
Jamaica
While Campbell will be back to defend her 200m gold, her upset in the 100m was big talk Saturday after the race. Campbell finished 4th in the race by the narrowest of margins with the top 3 allowed to go to Olympic competition. Campbell ran a 10.88 for the 4th spot – just .01 behind 3rd place Sherone Simpson (10.87). Kerron Stewart won in 10.80 with Shelly-Ann Fraser 2nd in 10.85. Campbell will be the alternate for the team in case of injury to one of the top 3 runners. She will also be on the 4x100m relay team that will be defending its Olympic Gold medal as well. It was the fastest women’s 100m final ever for any nation with all 4 times equaling or besting the previous best time in the world of 10.88 that was held by Campbell.
Former Cougar Aleen Bailey made the finals but her 11.22 was good for 6th. Bailey and Campbell both ran in the finals of 2004 Olympics in the 100m with Campbell winning the bronze medal and Bailey taking 5th. Simone Facey did not make the finals, running an 11.48 in the semifinals for the 10th best time with only the top 8 moving on.
Campbell returned with a vengeance Sunday in the 200m after her disappointment in the 100m Saturday. She ran the best semifinal time of 22.38 then ran the fastest time in the world this year in the 200m with a 21.94 in the finals. The previous best time in the world this year was 22.29. Bailey and Facey again just missed the team as Facey took 5th in the finals in 22.25 and Bailey 7th in 22.85. Bailey was 4th in the 200m finals at the 2004 Olympics. In the competition the top 5 runners all bested the previous best 200m time in the world in what was another stacked final.
A pair of former Cougars also came up short in their bid to earn sprint spots on the Jamaican men’s team. Steve Mullings made it to the semifinals of the 100m but his 3rd place time of 10.59 in the 2nd of 3 heats didn’t earn him a spot in the finals. Omar Brown also came up short in the 200m. Brown was in the tough spot of having the 9th fastest time – just missing the finals with his 21.06.
Mardrea Hyman will compete for Jamaica in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2008 Olympics, where she already has meet the A standard. The country did not have the steeplechase as part of its Trials this weekend. Hyman did run in the 1500m where she won the event in 4:21 but has yet to reach the needed B standard of 2:01.3 to earn a spot at the Olympic Games. Floyd Mayne also won the 5000m but well short of the B standard in that race as well.
Patricia Hall failed to make the team in the 400m as she ran a 52.05 in the semifinals and was not part of the final field, placing 10th. Lancford Davis had a similar Trials, finishing 12th in the semifinals of the men’s 400m in 46.57.
Bahamas
Sands jumped to an easy win the triple jump at the Bahamas trials, jumping a wind-aided 57-3 to win the event by more than 8 inches. Sands did not compete in the long jump to focus on the triple jump at the brief 3-day event.
For Jamaican National Championships go to http://www.jaaaltd.com/
For Bahamas National Championships go to http://www.bahamastrack.com
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