Veronica Campbell was born to Cecil Campbell and Pamella Bailey in Trelawny, Jamaica on May 15th, 1982. She has 9 brothers and sisters. She attended Claredon High School before pursuing higher education in the U.S. Campbell attended Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kansas. There she set several records and won many titles including 4 national titles in the 60, 100 and 200 meter dashes indoors and outdoors. She set the current record for Barton County in the outdoor 100 and 200 Meter dashes. Campbell also excelled in academics earning an Associates Degree from Barton County in 2002 with a 3.8 grade average. She went on to attend The University of Arkansas. Inspired to compete in Track and Field by fellow Jamaican athletes Donald Quarrie and Merlene Ottey Campbell began competing internationally. She won the 100m at the 1999 World Youth Championships at the age of 17. In 2000 she became the first woman to win the sprint double at a World Junior Championships. In 2000 Campbell also competed in the Olympics earning a Silver Medal on the team that finished 2nd to the Bahamas infamous "Golden Girls." She found herself running with her idol Merlene Ottey on the team. In 2004 Campbell came in first in the 200M in the Grand Prix at Linz, Austria. Later that year she would make history as the first woman from Jamaica or the Caribbean to win an Olympic Gold in a sprint race (Women's 200m) at the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece. On Wednesday August 25th, 2004 Campbell ran her personal best of 22.05 beating American Allyson Felix to the finish line earning Jamaica's 6th Gold Medal in Olympic History. Campbell would go on to win another Gold in the Women's 4 x 100m Relay and a Bronze in the Women's 100m. Campbell intends to pursue a career in either business or as a teacher.
