'I wondered whether I wanted to do it'- Junelle Bromfield reveals reasons behind her uncertainty to represent Jamaica

Junelle Bromfield is considering quitting track and field due to a lack of appreciation from Jamaican fans and personal struggles, insisting that she is more business-oriented and would thrive in that setting.

Noah Lyles’ girlfriend Junelle Bromfield has opened up about contemplating not continuing with her career in track and field and not representing Jamaica in the future.

Junelle Bromfield told Sim Soul Sessions that Jamaicans never appreciate talent and they always root for an athlete when they are winning. She noted that despite Oblique Seville’s great performances in races, they never appreciate him whenever he misses a medal on the global stage, unlike other nations.

The two-time Olympian also pointed out that when Kishane Thompson won the silver medal in the men’s 100m at the Paris Olympic Games, most Jamaican fans were focused on saying Noah Lyles did not deserve the gold medal instead of congratulating the Jamaican youngster.

In the build-up to the Olympic Games, Junelle Bromfield received a lot of threats and colourism comments despite her sacrifice to train and work hard. She opened up about the COVID-19 times when she would contemplate going for training or going to visit her late mother in the hospital and people never cared what she was going through at the time.

“Going up to the Olympics, a lot happened and I wondered whether I wanted to do it, especially for Jamaica because we’re not appreciated. We do so much, training so hard and sacrificing a lot but because even with my family, when my mum was in hospital, I struggled to go back home. It was during COVID-19 and I had to choose between training and going to St. Elizabeth because I didn’t drive and I had to take a bus and it was hard,” Junelle Bromfield said.

“When you are running slow, everyone has something to say and they don’t know what’s going on in people’s lives. They judge so much and I feel like they are there for the glory but they don’t appreciate that much. I’m on a different journey in life right now and even though sometimes things are not going good, there is greater on the other side,” Bromfield added.

Junelle Bromfield had already given up on her talent before the national trials but it was her boyfriend Noah Lyles who challenged her to just go and compete and see how things would turn out.

At the Jamaican Olympic trials, she went into the 400m race as an underdog but completed the podium in the 400m final in a personal best time. After that, she thought that maybe she belonged to the track and tried motivating herself to go for training with her eyes fixed on the Olympic Games.

“Even before the national trials, I was telling Noah that I’m not sure I want to do track anymore. I’m like, I’m not sure, this is a path for me and I’m a business-minded person so I’m like here coming up with a bunch of ideas. I’m heading out and I’m going to do this, I’m not even going to the national trials,” Bromfield said.

“At that time, Noah was like there is nothing to lose by going to the national trials and I had trained for the whole year for that and it was just the trials. He advised me to go and say, ‘Well, I’ve done it and this was my best’ instead of wondering what else I could have done. I went to the trials and nobody expected me to make it even to the finals and when I got there, I got my personal best. I was like, okay God, maybe this is what I need to do.”