Olympic and World 100M silver medalist Kerron Stewart (centre) shares a moment with young Brianna Burrowes and her sister Anneka Williams (right), during a visit to the Bustamante Hospital for Children's in Kingston where she made a donation yesterday. - Andrew Lowe photo

Two-hundredths of a second is all that separated compatriots Shelly-Ann Fraser and Kerron Stewart in the 100 metres finals at the IAAF World Champion-ships in Berlin this summer, as the pair dismissed the rest of the field en route to a Jamaica one-two in the highly anticipated event and in the process, fuelling speculation of a fiery rivalry.

This, however, was not the first time that the two sprinting stars were facing each other, as they had faced the starter together on three previous occasions prior to the World Championships final this year, including the National Championships at the National Stadium, and the IAAF Golden Gala in Rome. They again faced each other after the Berlin championships, but were both bettered by American Carmelita Jeter.

Strong friendship

Of the six meetings between the two all season, Fraser has finished in front of Stewart on five occasions, including the World Championships semi-final and final.

However, the former St Jago High and Auburn University standout insisted that the two are the best of friends and revealed that she was already plotting to get the better of her diminutive compatriot.

Stewart, who took time out to visit the Bustamante Children's Hospital in Kingston yesterday to donate several gift items and educational materials as part of her outreach activities, stressed that she shares a strong friendship with Fraser.

Said Stewart: "Shelly and I are good friends. I think people misunderstand the competition part of it. I love to win; she loves to win. none of us steps on the track to lose, but at the end of the race, she is my friend."

Common goal

"We share a common goal: we want to represent our country to the best of our ability and in doing that, it so happens that we have to compete against each other. We can't run away from that. She wants to be the best and I want to be the best, and in striving for that we have to go head-to-head," Stewart continued.

Speaking on the Berlin meeting where Fraser exploded out of the blocks with the fastest reaction time, compared to her reaction that was only better than that of the athlete who finished last, Stewart admitted that she needs to work on her start for the coming season.

"Oh my God!" Stewart exclaimed. "There is no doubt about how quick Shelly-Ann is, and we all know all about my top-end speed, but I am aware that I have to learn to put a full race together."

Added incentive

Stewart hailed the competition as added incentive to train harder and believes that the rivalry has added to the overall attraction of female sprinting across the world.

"It's good for women's sprinting on a whole, because people are really paying attention now because you never know who is going to win. With the guys, most people pretty much have a bright idea of who is going to win, but for the women, it's still up in the air and anybody can win on any given day, so it's more exciting. It's good competition and it certainly keeps me on my toes and forces me to work even harder," she added.

On her new charity initiative, the 25-year-old stated that yesterday's visit was just a start and that she would be looking to get more involved in the activities at the hospital - for which she hopes to purchase a dialysis machine - and Father Richard Ho Lung's Missionaries of the Poor organisation.

Stewart explained: "It's just a start. I am being blessed and I have to bless somebody, because the more blessings come in, the more you have to bless somebody else. Giving back is a part of me. I honestly think that it is my duty, so it's something that I definitely have to do. it's not something that my conscience will allow me to just walk away from."

Speaking on behalf of the hospital, Matron Marcia Lyn-Cook welcomed the donations and encouraged more Jamaicans to assist the facility in whatever way they could.

"We need all the help that we can get from all the citizens of Jamaica because we serve the children of Jamaica. The government alone cannot do it, and in this crisis, we need all the help we can get. The very thought that she wants to share with the children is also very good," said Lyn-Cook.