‘The race is not for the swift’ - Nelson’s mother confident athlete will rebound from Olympic disappointment

Sandra Campbell, the mother of Jamaican sprinter Kemba Nelson, is more than disappointed that when she tunes into the 2024 Paris Olympics her daughter will not be among the Jamaican athletes on show.

"I know she works hard and is still working hard. We know the type of person and mentality she has but things do happen. She cannot make it up for this Olympics, it's always every four years. She has put in a lot of work; coming from an injury and she had to go overseas twice to seek treatment on her knee. It was not easy for her to be at this level that she is right now," Campbell told The STAR.

"What I can say is at least she made me proud as a mother," she added.

Nelson was named an Alternate Person (AP) Reserve by the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) to the women's 4x100-metre relay squad to the Paris Olympic Games.

She revealed in a series of posts on social media that she has been omitted from the squad to travel to the Paris Olympics.

She made the announcement in a post on X (formerly Twitter) where she wrote, "Won't be in Paris".

"2021 my name reach inna Gleaner only fi get call days before the team fi leave say dem nah bring me," she wrote in another post, relating to three years ago in Tokyo when she was named as a reserve on Jamaica's sprint relay team, only to have her name withdrawn at the last moment.

"Fast forward 2024, team leaving tomorrow and dem say dem nuh need me right now," she added in her post.

Nelson finished fifth at the Jamaica National Championships and was listed in the athlete pool for the women's 4x100m relay.

Shericka Jackson won the Jamaica Olympic trial in 10.84 seconds, with Tia Clayton second in 10.90, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce third in 10.94, Shashalee Forbes fourth in 11.04, while Nelson and Alana Reid were both timed in 11.14.

Nelson was adjudged to have placed fifth and Reid sixth.

According to the JAAA's rules, the top three are guaranteed selection, but the other spots are left to the discretion of the JAAA's selection committee.

"I tell her to stay strong because the race is not for the swift but for who can endure it. Sometimes things may not happen how we plan it, but sometimes it is for the best" Campbell said.

"I know she does not want to hear that, but I have to let her know to stay strong. She is strong and has a fighting spirit and will overcome this. This is just a phase she is going through right now," she added.

As for motivation, Campbell said she continues to tell her daughter to keep working hard.

"When a person goes into a race or Olympic final, everybody cannot be first place. Nuh care how you run fast, everybody has to have their own place. I wouldn't advise her to give up because she has the fighting spirit in her," Campbell said.

"Even Sunday she ran a race in Switzerland and she clocked 11.04," Campbell noted of the time that shows her daughter is on form. Nelson placed third. Mujinga Kambundgji won in 10.90 seconds.

MADE AWARE OF STATUS

Meanwhile, team manager for Jamaica team in Paris, Ludlow Watts, has insisted that all AP were made aware of their status, as controversy continued to unfold surrounding Nelson.

Watts was speaking as a group of Jamaican athletes arrived yesterday at Gare de L'est Station from their pre Olympic camp in Stuttgart which concluded on Monday.

"All the athletes knew their status. I do not think that there is anyone that didn't know their status. The problem with the AP athletes in the Olympics is that you cannot stay in the athletes village, whereas at the World Championships, the JAAA would have paid the money and we would have them in reserve," Watts said. "The Olympics is not really a JAAA event so to speak and the expense would have to be borne by the Olympic association, but we would know that if we had a World Championships."

Watts stated that the situation would be more clearer by today which of the reserves will be called upon to make the trip to Paris.

"Normally the only time that we would use them is in a relay situation, but by (today) we will know exactly the status of certain things that are taking place," Watts said.

In the meantime, Andrew Henry, who coached Nelson at Mount Alvernia High School in Montego Bay, St James, is also confident that the athlete will bounce back.

"I know that she will rebound. A lot of persons don't really know that she went through a series of injuries. She has been doing background training from the start of the season. She was able to bounce back but unfortunately what took place took place," Henry said.

Nelson was a member of the Jamaica women's 4x100m relay team which won silver at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.

After leaving Mount Alvernia High, Nelson got enrolled the University of Technology (UTech) and went on to the University of Oregon.

- Daniel Wheeler, who is in Paris, France, providing coverage of the Jamaica team and the 2024 Olympic Games, contributed to this story.