Jamaica’s multi Olympic and World Championships gold medallist Veronica Campbell Brown has been cleared to resume her track and field career OBSERVER ONLINE has learned.
[Veronica Campbell-Brown]'s first public reaction to the test results came in the form of a statement released by her On Track Management (OTM) group. The OTM statement noted Campbell-Brown is determined to clear her name and included a Campbell-Brown public apology to her family, supporters and sponsors for "any embarrassment".
"The suggestion that [Veronica Campbell-Brown] was cleared on some technicality is simply not true. She was cleared because no anti-doping violation was proven and the reason none was proven was because she didn't do anything wrong, period, end of story," said attorney Howard Jacobs during a press conference yesterday at The Jamaica Pegasus. "It's not a technicality, it's a fundamental point," [Jacob] noted. "The question remained, what happened to the third sample?" "My inability to defend my 200m title was a huge loss. In fact, just being unable to compete was financially and emotionally devastating. This ordeal cost me in excess of 90 per cent of my possible earnings. The ripple effect affected my charities, most notably my foundation and my contribution towards my alma mater and others," said Campbell-Brown. "I now have a renewed appreciation for my talent and relationships within the sport that are important to me."
It was not just technicalities but serious blunders by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) in the collection of the urine samples of Veronica Campbell Brown which forced the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to exonerate the athlete from any doping violations.
Vaz Prep's Travis Johnson practices his technique under the watchful eyes of World 400 metres champion, Sanya Richards-Ross, as she assisted in the school's track-team training session. Looking on are Jahvid Ferguson and Alija Cox. The school is preparing for the upcoming inter-Prep Schools track and field athletics chamionships. "I am happy to be back at Vaz Prep because this school has a special place in my heart, because this was where it all began." said Richards-Ross, who pointed out that the institution played the most important part in her track and field career.
For [Heidi Rondon], the opportunity to express her African roots through music and dance was a calling. "In our veins we carry the African feeling," she explained. "We are direct descendants of slaves that cultivated cocoa and coffee in the central coast of Barlovento many years ago." "These Africans were Latin America's first liberators," says historian and activist Jorge Guerrero Valez accompanying the group. A dignified Venezuelan enormously conscious of his African heritage and history, Jorge spoke eloquently about the solidarity Afro-Venezuelans, as they call themselves, feel with their African American brothers and sisters in the United States and the need to enhance the relationship.
Storyteller, poet, and culinary anthropologist Vertamae Grosvenor displays the pleasures of African-Atlantic cooking in "Vertamae Cooks in The Americas' Family Kitchen," and in her new series debuting on PBS in October, In both the book and the series, Vertamae shows how African tastes and traditions have influenced the various cuisines of America, acquiring new flavors and ingredients along the way in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. With humor, insight, and gusto, Vertamae shares anecdotes and history as she prepares more than a hundred mouth-watering, down-home recipes. The recipes range from the deliciously unique to the comfortingly familiar, from the spiciness of Bahian Shrimp Creole to the pleasure of sweet potato pie.
"All kinds of relief funds have been raised for Haiti and I asked him [[Joe Biden]] where is all the money going," [Jacques Despinosse] said. "What I saw with my own eyes was far worse than what we have seen on television. There are over one million people living on the streets, hungry and with no proper facilities to use the bathroom. We don't need to keep sending rice to farmers or meat to fishermen. They need grain and tools, boats and fishing nets, so they can provide for their families on a regular basis."
Roots reggae artist, Chronixx and his band, Zinc Fence Redemption were the victims of a "dread and terrible lie" during the last week of their "Dread and Terrible" European tour. In an online release from Platinum Camp, that stated that Chronixx and members of his band were beaten by French police using "baseball bats" when they "refused to wear armbands" at the Paris show on April 6, was the cause of many fans taking to social media to express their concern. The Dread & Terrible Tour has continued with successful performances by Chronixx, Dre Island and Kelissa in various cities around Europe every night since the April 6 date in Paris."
In his West Kingston, Jamaica stronghold of Tivoli Gardens, the reputed leader of the notorious "Shower Posse" gang is revered by many. So respected - or perhaps feared - is he that many in the area refer to him as "the President", or "Presi" for short, even though the area is represented in Parliament by Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
