Veronica Campbell-Brown wins 200M gold

Veronica Campbell-Brown

DAEGU, South Korea, (Reuters) – Jamaica’s Olympic  champion Veronica Campbell-Brown held off the challenge of  American Carmelita Jeter down the home straight with a storming  finish to win the women’s world 200 metres title for the first  time today.
Campbell-Brown exploded out of the blocks and held a healthy  lead at the bend before Jeter, who beat the Jamaican to 100  metres gold earlier in the championships, caming steaming  through the field.

Veronica Campbell-Brown
Veronica Campbell-Brown

The American looked set to overhaul her rival with 70 metres  to go but the twice world championship silver medallist found an  extra gear and held her off to win gold in 22.22 seconds.
“My objective was to run the curve as fast as I can and then  maintain,” the 29-year-old said after running her season’s best  time.
“I knew I had a strong curve. I didn’t want to go home with  two silvers so I was motivated for the gold. Thank God that I  finally got the gold medal here.”
Jeter took silver in 22.37 seconds ahead of compatriot  Allyson Felix, the three-times defending champion, who added a  bronze to the silver she won in the 400 earlier in the  championships in a time of 22.42 seconds.
“I was trying to close but my legs gave up,” said Jeter. “It  happens, this is my first time doubling at the world  championships so I am excited to see what I can do in London  2012 (Olympics). I thought I was going to pull it out but my  legs got behind me.”
Felix, who was running in the 200 and 400 in Daegu for the  first time at a major championships, said running the one-lap  race had also taken a lot out of her.
“I’m disappointed and tired but I definitely wouldn’t have  changed anything about the doubling up,” said Felix.
“I thought I ran with a lot of heart tonight because that  was all that I had left.”
Organisers had hedged their bets by putting a picture of  both Jeter and Felix on the front of the day’s programme but the  “Cover curse”, where the featured athletes fail to win their  events, struck for the sixth time in seven days.