Veronica Campbell-Brown Headlines Kansas Relays Invitational 200-Meter Dash Field
April 13, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Jamaican sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown will return to the Kansas Relays next week in an attempt to win two-straight Invitational 200-meter dash titles. Last year, in just the second year of the event, the three-time Olympian won with a record-setting time of 22.32.
Campbell-Brown is best known for being the second woman to take home Olympic gold in the 200-meter dash in back-to-back Olympic Games, doing so in 2004 and 2008. It was the first time since Barb Wökel of Germany won the 200-meter dash in 1976 and 1980. In the 2008 Beijing Games, Campbell-Brown’s winning time of 21.74 was the fastest time posted in a decade and the third-best all-time for a Jamaican woman.
The 2008 title brought her Olympic medal total to five, as she previously won two gold medals and a bronze in the 2004 Athens Games and a silver medal in Sydney in 2000.
A year before her third Olympic Games, Campbell-Brown captured the world title in the 100-meter dash. She finished the 2007 World Championships with three total medals, taking home a pair of silvers in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter relay. Overall, Campbell-Brown owns a total of six outdoor World Championship medals, with five silvers and one gold. Her most recent world title came indoors in 2010, when she won the 60-meters.
Campbell-Brown’s Kansas ties date back to her days at Barton County Community College in Great Bend. After winning four junior college national championships, Campbell-Brown then competed for the University of Arkansas. In her one year as a Razorback, Campbell-Brown earned four All-America honors and an NCAA Indoor Championship in the 200-meter dash.
Off the track, Campbell-Brown is married to fellow Jamaican sprinter Omar Brown and is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) Goodwill Ambassador. As the first female track athlete to be named a Champion for Sport by UNESCO, Campbell-Brown works to promote gender equality in sport.
Campbell-Brown is slated to defend her title in the Invitational 200-Meter Dash Saturday, April 23, at 3:20 p.m., at Memorial Stadium. Tickets for the 84th Kansas Relays can be purchased at Memorial Stadium or online at KUAtheltics.com. Advance orders can also be made by emailing the KU ticket office at kuticketsku.edu or by calling 800-34-HAWKS.
