Last update on. From the section The HundredDeandra Dottin won 2-33, and was 18 out as West Indies defeated Australia in the 2016 Twenty20 World CupManchester Originals v London Spirit Women's Hundred Date: 10 Aug Time: 15:00 BST. Live coverage on BBC Two starting at 14:45 BST. Also, live text and radio commentary on the BBC Sport app and website.Deandra Dottin won the World T20 Cricketer of Year award in 2018. She was ready to give up in 2019.She didn't live to be an Olympian forever.Dottin has been a great light in the opening weeks for The Hundred with London Spirit. But she could have just as easily been in Tokyo this month to chase Olympic gold.Dottin was an athlete in her youth and a cricketer in her teen years.She said, "Athletics was a great sport that brought me a lot of success before I turned to cricket.""I have always thought of going back, because I always wanted to make the Olympics.Dottin was a specialist in javelin and also did well in the shot put, and discus. She competed in the CARIFTA Games junior competition, which featured two age groups (U18s, and U20s) representing all countries within the Caribbean Free Trade Association.Dottin stated, "Experiencing CARIFTA was nerve-wracking for me. I had to perform in them." "The first time that I went to CARIFTA was probably 12. It was nailbiting, nerves and nerves but it was an honor to represent your country at this level of athletics.Dottin would also make history at the 2007 event.She won gold not only in her favorite event, javelin but also in discus and shot put. Three out of three. She would make her international debut in cricket one year later.How did the nerves for competing in each one compare?Dottin jokes, "To be truthful the nerves hit different to being up next at the javelin."You'll freeze if you don't pay attention to the task at hand. Many times I have stopped throwing the javelin because I was too distracted by the task at hand.Dottin's career in cricket would mark the end of her athletics career.She was passionate about athletics and felt disillusioned by the lack of support she received from the Barbadian governing bodies that made her decide to give up on the sport.After her 2007 record-breaking performance, she recalls being puzzled at the fact that a team-mate who won the octathlon at World Youth Championships was awarded national plaudits while her three gold medals at CARIFTA, which broke all previous records, earned her "a little glass trophy". This is more appropriate for a school sport day than an international competition.Cricket succeeded where athletics failed.Pamela Lavine, an ex-West Indies player, encouraged Dottin to take up cricket. She was soon on her way to success and a promising career. Dottin would become an international athlete, but not in the sport she had envisioned.Dottin earned a reputation for being one of the most destructive cricketers around the world over the next ten years.But, her dream of becoming an Olympian was always at the back of her head.Dottin finally decided in 2019 that it was now or never.Tokyo 2020 was the goal and there were training plans in place. Reconstruction surgery was required for her right shoulder injury and she was forced to stop participating in any sport for a year.Dottin would later speak out about the lows and difficulties she experienced during those 12 months. All quotes were made in context of not being able to play cricket.This makes perfect sense. Because Dottin had not told anyone. The West Indies Cricket Board was one of the notable people who didn't know about her plan.Dottin smiles and says, "They'd be in for a surprise."Dottin is a cricketer by accident, but maybe an Olympian by fate.Her shoulder feels stronger after a year of rehabilitation, but she knows that time is not on her side at 30. With the next Olympics still three more years away, it is difficult to believe.It may take a lot of luck and many stars to align but Deandra Dottin is still a hopeful 2016 world champion and 2024 Olympian.It was exactly as she had always wished it.The ECB's Hundred Rising gives eight young journalists the chance to tell The Hundred men and women's stories through their eyes.
