Veronica keeps Jamaica on a high
Veronica Campbell-Brown followed the Usain Bolt path to glory in the Bird's Nest Stadium today as she continued Jamaica's glorious track Games by successfully defending her Olympic 200 metres crown.
Twenty-four hours after her compatriot Bolt's sensational half-lap triumph, Campbell-Brown, who is also rapidly turning herself into one of the great woman sprinters of all-time, claimed Jamaica's fifth sprint gold on a rain-splattered night with a majestic triumph in a lifetime best 21.74 seconds.
Her victory came moments before Bolt collected his second gold medal and she certainly didn't display the youngster's showboating tendencies which Olympic chief Jacques Rogge appears to believe are so disrespectful. Campbell-Brown, the world 100m champion was desperate to make amends for missing out on competing in the blue riband event here.
Today, she was all business as she opened up a gaping lead off the turn and maintained a two-metre advantage over US silver medallist Allyson Felix (21.93sec) and her Jamaican team-mate Kerron Stewart (22.00sec), silver medallist in the 100m.
Elsewhere, Twickenham teenager Steph Twell, one of the great young hopes of British athletics, finished sixth in her 1500m heat in 4min 06.68sec and Susan Scott bowed out too.
Yet Commonwealth champion Lisa Dobriskey, the Ashford miler who has shown tremendous form of late, looked impressive in coasting into the semis by finishing third in her heat in a lifetime best 4:03.22.
The 16-year wait to find another British men's 800m finallist goes on after Michael Rimmer bowed out in his semi-final, still suffering the effects of food poisoning.
He said: "I just feel like I've got nothing in my legs and I couldn't go any quicker. The timing of the illness couldn't be worse."
Meanwhile, America's 4x100m men's relay team, favourites for the gold medal, crashed out in the first round after dropping the baton on the last hand over.
