FAYETTEVILLE -- Veronica Campbell-Brown was an 18-year-old high school sprinter when she made her Olympic debut in 2000 and won a silver medal as a member of Jamaica's 400-meter relay team.

Sixteen years and six more medals later, the former Arkansas NCAA champion will run in her fifth Olympics on Monday in Rio de Janeiro in the first round of the 200 meters.

Campbell-Brown, 34, also is expected to run on the 400 relay, where Jamaica is among the medal favorites.

"When you talk about athletes competing in five Olympics, that's few and and far between, especially in the sport of track and field, and even moreso in the sprints," said Lance Harter, who has been Arkansas' women's team coach since 1990. "Usually that's a place where you're going to have younger people.

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"It's a tribute to Veronica's talent and also her hard work and how she's taken care of herself that at her age she's still an Olympic-caliber sprinter."

At last year's World Championships, Campbell-Brown took the bronze medal in the 200 and a gold medal with the 400-relay team.

"Right now I know it's not time to go," Campbell-Brown told the Jamaican Observer newspaper at the World Championships. "God has not closed the door on me yet.

"I enjoy my critics, because they push me. When people say, 'Veronica needs to retire,' or 'Veronica does not have it,' that motivates me to prove them wrong."

Former Arkansas NCAA champion Omar McLeod, the Olympic gold medal favorite in the 110-meter hurdles for Jamaica, has gotten to know Campbell-Brown well in the last year since turning professional. They frequently compete at the same meets on the pro circuit.

"Veronica is like a big sister to me," said McLeod, 22. "She'll text asking me about my preparations and how I've been doing mentally and physically and when I'm going to get to the city where we're running.

"She looks out for young athletes, especially if you're a Razorback. She's just amazing. Words really can't fully describe how awesome she is."

Campbell-Brown has won three Olympic gold medals -- in the 200 in 2004 and 2008 and on the 400 relay in 2004 -- along with two silver and two bronze. She's also won 13 medals at the World Championships.

"She's definitely the queen of track and field for Jamaica," McLeod said. "When she's introduced at the National Stadium, people go wild."

Campbell-Brown has won at least one medal at each of her previous four Olympics.

"No doubt she'll medal again," McLeod said. "She's a fighter and when you're around her, you feed off that.

"When she talks, it's never about anything foolish. She's all business. You gravitate toward that and apply it to your life. You want to be like her. I just want to do everything she does.

"She's tough, she's gritty and she's disciplined. She always has her mind on what she wants to accomplish."

Campbell-Brown transferred to Arkansas from Barton County (Kan.) Community College and competed for the Razorbacks during the indoor and outdoors seasons in 2004 before turning pro. She won the NCAA indoor 200 title and was a four-time All-American.

She married former Arkansas sprinter Omar Brown and graduated from the UA with a marketing degree in 2006. They now live in Clermont, Fla.

Harter, who led Arkansas to the NCAA Outdoor championship this year, saw Campbell-Brown at a meet in Monaco a few weeks ago.

"Veronica came running up to me and said, 'Coach Harter, congratulations on winning the national title. I'm so proud to be a Razorback,' " Harter said. "She's still a big Arkansas fan and very proud of what we've done."

Harter said Campbell-Brown's commitment to staying fit was evident when they hugged.

"I said, 'Man, you're skinny,' " Harter said. "She goes, 'I've lost a little bit of weight. I think that was best for me.'

"She's the epitome of being a professional. She takes care of every detail to the max."

Campbell-Brown's personal-bests are 10.76 seconds in the 100 meters at the 2011 World Championships and 21.74 at the 2008 Olympics.

"I still feel like I can run faster," Campbell-Brown told The Gleaner, a Jamaican newspaper, in December. "I really feel like I've not run my fastest yet, so I'm holding on to the hope that I will run faster. I'm feeling that my ending will be better than my beginning."

McLeod said Campbell-Brown never talks about retiring.

"She just wants to compete," he said. "Whenever it's time for her to stop, she'll know it."

Sports on 08/13/2016