For 400m specialist Junelle Bromfield, the Paris Olympics was a mixed bag. While she had qualified for her first individual Olympic race, Noah Lyles’ statement on Track World News turned Jamaican fans against her. What a heartbreaking turn in her Olympic journey! However, speaking to Sim Clark Cooper on YouTube, the sprinter revealed that things weren’t too different leading up to her Olympic debut.

While Bromfield prepared for the Tokyo Olympics, her mother battled cancer. Yet, thanks to COVID-19 restrictions, the trips between Kingston and her hometown, St. Elizabeth, became an ordeal. The 26-year-old didn’t drive, and instead, she relied on the bus service. Unfortunately, public transportation during the time of social distancing became a serious challenge.

The COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 presented its set of challenges. Yet, Team Jamaica’s 400-meter star could at least train during her time at the University of Technology in Kingston. Bromfield’s world came crashing down when her mother, Sandra Farquharson, was diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer in January 2021. Her battle with the disease barely lasted a month.

Yet, most fans only cared about the results on the track. “When you’re running slow, everybody has something to say. And they don’t know what’s going on in people’s lives, and they judge so much,” Junelle Bromfield said while appearing on the Sim Soul Sessions.

By February 2021, Junelle Bromfield’s mother had lost her battle. Bromfield, who was already struggling to balance training, traveling, and taking care of her mother, stopped in her tracks. Yet, during the toughest ordeal of her life, the sprinter barely found support from the fans. Yet, when the Jamaican won bronze in the 4x400m relay, the fans celebrated.

“I feel like they’re there for the glory but not they don’t appreciate us in the hard time,” Bromfield added. Three years on from her Olympic debut, not much has changed. All it took was a throwaway comment from boyfriend Noah Lyles to turn track and field fans against Bromfield.

Junelle Bromfield faced immense backlash without any fault of her own

The Jamaican track and field star’s boyfriend and defending World Champion Noah Lyles commented on the Jamaican camp while discussing the fierce Olympic rivalry between Team USA and Jamaica. “I have been getting the drama from Jamaican camps for at least five years now,” the 27-year-old said. While he didn’t think much about it, the internet exploded in a wave of backlash.

Jamaican track fans translated Noah Lyles’ words as Junelle Bromfield giving away insider information that gave Lyles an edge in the competition. Although baseless, the insinuations brought relentless harassment. During her conversation with Cooper, the sprinter revealed the backlash made her believe even her teammates would reject her.

“When I got there (Olympic Village) the way the internet was behaving, I didn’t know how I would be received,” she told Sim Clark Cooper. While the Olympian was pleasantly surprised by the support she got from her fellow athletes, things have not returned to normal. That’s because the Olympic bronze medalist is still scared to return to Jamaica.

Junelle Bromfield revealed she got disturbing texts where fans wished she would get injured in Paris. “And if I came home, they were going to basically kill me.” revealed the sprinter. These experiences have helped Bromfield learn to navigate the fans’ sentiments. However, the Olympian will never forget the lesson she learned in January 2021.