By Satya Rath/Doha

We are talking about yesterday’s Timeout session at the Doha GOALS Forum at the Aspire Zone here, attended by Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown and Denmark’s Wilson Kipketer, and moderated by Trinidad and Tobago’s Ato Boldon.

Jamaican Campbell-Brown, an 18-time Olympic and World Championships medallist, is still a force to reckon with in world athletics. Having been cleared of a two-year doping ban by the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, she’s aiming to sign off on a high at next year’s Rio Games.

What’s the secret of her longevity, Boldon asks, considering that she’s been running virtually non-stop since winning her first gold as an 18-year-old at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney?

“I was born to sprint. I was listening to the great George Foreman the other day and his words were so inspiring. I couldn’t help but draw some similarities though. Had I not been a sprinter, I would have been in academics because I was always fond of studies. But I could not have managed to reach the university had I not begun running,” said Campbell-Brown.

“My family was too poor to afford university studies for me, but I was determined. I am thankful to God for having blessed me with a body that’s made to sprint. Because of my running exploits, I managed to get a scholarship in a US university where I got to both study and run,” she added.

The Jamaican thinks it’s her focus and determination that has carried her so far. “The moment I step on the track I want to win. I always want to achieve more, I always keep pushing myself. That’s always been my attitude. I never believe in giving up, I am ready to run through pain. My body too has coped with the demands of a professional sprinter, so I have been lucky on that aspect. I will keep running till I enjoy it or till my body asks me to stop,” says the Jamaican.

Kenyan-born Danish Kipketer, on the other hand, was plagued by injuries on and off. The 42-year-old middle-distance runner — who specialised in 800 metres and whose indoor 1,000m record still stands tall — strangely enough, could never win an Olympic gold, though he virtually ruled his sport for almost a decade. While at Sydney 2000 he took the silver, while four years later in Athens, he had to be satisfied with the bronze.

Doesn’t it ever rankle him, Boldon asks. “No, I never dwell in the past. Life must go on. In 1996, I was at my peak, I was fully fit, yet I couldn’t make it to the Olympics (Kipketer was barred by the International Olympic Committee as he was till then not a full Danish citizen). I suffered a muscle pull just three weeks before the 2000 Games, yet I managed to win the silver. In 2004 too, while training I had a hamstring problem, still I managed a bronze. That’s life. I have no regrets,” says Kipketer, who went undefeated in three successive World Championships, from 1995 to 1999.