Kemba Nelson
Kemba Nelson at the 2022 World Athletics Championships
Personal information
Born (2000-02-23) 23 February 2000
Home townMontego Bay, Jamaica
Sport
CountryJamaica
SportTrack and field
EventSprints
College teamOregon Ducks (2021)
UTech (2018–2020)
ClubElite Performance Track Club
Coached byCurtis Taylor (Oregon Ducks)
Paul Francis (UTech)
Reynaldo Walcott (Elite Performance)
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • 60 m: 7.05 (2021, CR)
  • 100 m: 10.88 (2022)
  • 200 m: 22.74 (2022)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Jamaica
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2022 Eugene4×100 m relay
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place2022 Birmingham4×100 m relay
Carifta Games
Junior (U20)
Gold medal – first place2019 George Town 4x100 meters relay
Bronze medal – third place2019 George Town 100 meters

Kemba Nelson (born 23 February 2000) is a Jamaican sprinter competing for the Oregon Ducks in American collegiate track and field. She is the collegiate record holder in the women's 60 metres with a time of 7.05 seconds, which she set when winning the final at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in March 2021.

Athletics career

Mount Alvernia High and the University of Technology

Nelson first started competing in track and field at Mount Alvernia High School in Montego Bay, Jamaica—a school not known for its track and field program—coached by Lawrence Mendez her first year and later Andrew Henry.[1] In her last year (2017) she was second in the class 2 (15–16 years) girls' 100 metres and fourth in the 200 metres at the Jamaican high school Boys and Girls Championships.[2][3]

Nelson then attended the University of Technology (UTech) in Jamaica from 2018 to 2020, where she was coached by Paul Francis at the MVP Track and Field Club.[1] In her first year she placed third in the women's 100 metres at the 2018 Jamaican Under-20 Championships and ran on the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2018 World Under-20 Championships, though the Jamaican team was unable to advance after being disqualified in the semi-finals for stepping out of their lane.[4][5]

In 2019 she qualified to represent Jamaica in the under-20 category for the CARIFTA Games. She placed third in the women's 100 metres and teamed up with 100 metres champion Briana Williams, Kimone Reid, and 100 metres hurdles champion Ackera Nugent in the 4 × 100 metres relay, anchoring the team to gold.[6][7] At the Jamaican Under-20 Championships she won the women's 100 metres and 200 metres in personal best times of 11.49 and 23.57 seconds respectively,[4] and then went on to be a 100 metres finalist for Jamaica at both the Pan American Under-20 Championships and the North American, Central American, and Caribbean Under-23 Championships.[8][9]

Oregon transfer and 2021 indoor season

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nelson barely competed and spent most of 2020 addressing injuries instead.[1] She also wanted more competition than she thought the Jamaican intercollegiate scene could provide, so in October 2020 she transferred to the American University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon on an athletic scholarship for the Oregon Ducks, coached by Curtis Taylor.[4][10] In her first indoor meet (Razorback Invitational) for the Oregon Ducks on 30 January 2021, she placed second in the 200 metres with a personal best time of 23.53 seconds, and then defeated the 2019 NCAA Division I champion and collegiate leader Twanisha Terry over 60 metres in a time of 7.19 seconds.[11]

On 13 March at the 2021 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships she improved in the women's 60 metres semi-finals with a time of 7.13 seconds, though Terry remained the favorite after she too improved her personal best to 7.09 seconds.[12] However, Nelson again defeated Terry in the final with a collegiate record of 7.05 seconds, the second fastest time in the world that year.[13][12] Nelson was surprised by the performance which gave more confidence to herself as well as her high school alma mater, though Mount Alvernia coach Andrew Henry was not surprised by the win, telling The Gleaner after the race: "It doesn't matter where she's at, from the moment she in a final, her aim is always to win and it doesn't matter who's she's up against, she's focused on what her objectives are".[2][6]

2021 outdoor season

Nelson started the outdoor season on 27 March with her first sub-23 seconds (though wind-assisted with +2.5 m/s wind velocity) 200 metres race with a time of 22.79 seconds to win at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego.[14] She competed at the USATF Grand Prix in the University of Oregon's renovated Hayward Field on 24 April, winning her 100 metres semi final in a wind-assisted (+2.4 m/s wind velocity) time of 11.08 seconds ahead of Olympic champions Allyson Felix and Tianna Bartoletta. In the final Nelson finished fifth in 11.22 seconds, several meters behind Blessing Okagbare who won in 10.97 seconds, but Nelson didn't expect to win even her semi-final and called it a "very, very good experience".[4]

On 27 May, at the 2021 NCAA West Preliminary in College Station, Texas for the 2021 NCAA Division I Championships, Nelson lead the first round results with her first sub-11 seconds race with a time of 10.91 seconds. The wind was again over the limit for record purposes at +2.1 m wind, but she again ran under 11 seconds two days later in the quarter-finals with a 10.98 seconds personal best in almost still conditions (+0.1 m/s wind), qualifying for the 2021 NCAA Division I Championships in June.[15]

Personal life

Nelson is an undergrad at the University of Oregon studying applied economics, business and society, and plans to pursue a masters in finance.[10]

Personal best statistics

EventTimeWind (m/s)PlaceDateNotes
60 m7.05—Fayetteville, Arkansas, US13 March 2021Collegiate record, indoor[13][12]
100 m10.88+0.9Kingston, Jamaica , Jamaica24 June 2022
200 m22.74+0.1Eugene, Oregon, US15 May 2022

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Reid, Paul (15 October 2020). "History-Maker Kemba Nelson believes switch from UTech to University of Oregon is the right move" Archived 2020-11-19 at the Wayback Machine. Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 Lawrence, Hubert (22 March 2021). "Kemba revs up Mount Alvernia track team". The Gleaner. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Champs 2017 - 3/28/2017 to 4/1/2017". Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (1 April 2017). Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hansen, Chris (13 May 2021). "Oregon sprinter Kemba Nelson a rising star in the NCAA track scene". The Register-Guard. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "SUMMARY 4 x 100 Metres Relay Women - Round 1". IAAF (14 July 2018). Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  6. 1 2 "New Generation: Meet Kemba Nelson" Archived 2021-05-06 at the Wayback Machine. Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (25 March 2021). Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  7. ↑ "CAYMAN CARIFTA 2019". 2019 CARIFTA Games (22 April 2019). p. 13. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "Athletics XX Panamerican U20 Championship". Costa Rican Athletics Federation (21 July 2019). p. 4. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  9. ↑ "Campeonato NACAC Sub18 y Sub23 2019 - 05/07/2019 to 07/07/2019". Federation of Mexican Athletics Associations (7 July 2019). p. 7. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  10. 1 2 Williams, Sharla (9 October 2020). "Kemba Nelson off to University of Oregon". The Gleaner. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  11. ↑ Reid, Paul (4 February 2021). "Here I come! Kemba Nelson wins 60m dash at Razorback Invitational". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  12. 1 2 3 Reid, Paul (20 March 2021). "Kemba Nelson savours swift 7.05secs at University of Arkansas". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  13. 1 2 Levy, Leighton (14 March 2021). "Record-breaking Kemba Nelson storms to her first NCAA Indoor 60m title". SportsMax. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  14. ↑ Levy, Leighton (28 March 2021). "Kemba Nelson wins 200 season opener in San Diego". SportsMax. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  15. ↑ Hansen, Chris (27 May 2021). "Kemba Nelson and the Oregon women soar through Day 1 of NCAA West Preliminary track meet". The Register-Guard. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  16. ↑ "ATHLETE PROFILE Kemba NELSON". World Athletics. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
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