Veronica Campbell-Brown urges Sha’Carri Richardson to refocus

Former Jamaican track and field phenomenon Veronica Campbell-Brown has urged US sprint sensation Sha Carri Richardson to use Jamaican sprint queens Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the two fastest women alive, as motivation.

According to CaribbeanNationalWeekly (CNW), Campbell-Brown, the now retired 100m and 200m specialist who won three Olympic golds among her 48 medals, was in South Florida recently to collect her award as the 2021 Lifetime Achiever from the People Profile Organization.

[Sha Carri] “is a talented athlete, she is young, energetic and exciting,” said Veronica about the young Richardson. “But I think if she can just refocus, she will do very well in the sport.

“I know that Elaine and Shelly-Ann will always give her a good fight; and, if she uses them as motivation, they can push her to be extraordinary.”

CNW said Campbell-Brown, who helped to put Jamaica at the top of global sprinting, won her first Olympic medal, a silver, at age 18 at the 2000 games.

Four years later, in Athens, at 22, she became the first Caribbean athlete to win a sprint medal, when she outclassed favorite Allyson Felix to take the 200m, CNW said.

“Days later, she then ran an amazing anchor leg in the 4x100m to give Jamaica its first gold in the event,” it said.

CNW said Campbell-Brown “believes that Sha Carri has the ability to do well, referencing the American’s personal best of 10.72 in Miramar, Florida earlier this year.”

“She did that within two years of being a pro,” Campbell-Brown said. “That shows that she has the ability, and I am excited to see what she will do in the future. How she will continue to compete under pressure with some of the best in the world.”