Campbell-Brown draws inspiration from Ottey

By Gene Cherry

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Veronica Campbell-Brown's Olympic dream changed in one race after a fourth place in the Jamaican championships left the world champion without a lane in the Olympics 100 metres.

There will still be plenty of sprinting for the 26-year-old in Beijing, though, because she defends her Athens 200 metres title and chases a second 4x100 metres relay gold medal.

A personal best 21.94 seconds to win the 200 metres at the national championships netted her the fastest time in the world this season.

"I just had to bounce back and come out here and make sure that I'm on the Olympic team for an individual race," Campbell-Brown told reporters in Kingston after her victory.

"I don't know what happened (in the 100 metres), but I was disappointed. It was just a shocker to me, but it's just a part of life."

One consolation was the speed of that 100 metres - four athletes under 10.90 - which should make the Jamaicans one of the favourites in the 4x100 metres relay.

Married to Jamaican sprinter Omar Brown since 2007, Campbell-Brown gained international attention as the world youth 100 metres champion in 1999.

A year later she became the first woman to win world junior titles at 100 and 200 metres in the same year.