TRINIDAD AND Tobago women's 4x100-metre relay team member Khalifa St Fort reflected on a challenging build up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics following the quartet's elimination in the heats at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, on Wednesday night (TT time).

The quartet of St Fort, Michelle-Lee Ahye, Kai Selvon and Kelly-Ann Baptiste finished eighth and last in a season's best of 43.62 seconds in heat two.

Only the top three in each of the two heats advanced automatically to the final plus the next two fastest teams.

Ahye ran a strong second leg for TT, but the other legs were weak for TT which kept them out of contention.

Germany won heat two in a season’s best 42 seconds flat, Switzerland finished second in a national record of 42.05 and China took the third and final automatic qualification spot with a 42.82 clocking.

Speaking to SportsMax after the heats, St Fort said, "We went out there and ran our best. This is what we have, (this) is our best this year and that's what we did. I think we came out here and competed well, great chemistry, got all our passes together and that's all you could ask for. Just look forward to next year."

St Fort said it was difficult to prepare for Tokyo. "It was very hard for us to get together and also meets were very scarce. I think (running a) season's best is great and that is all I could ask of these ladies. I am so proud to be able to stand here with them today and we are just looking forward to World Champs."

The World Champs will take place in July 2022 in Eugene, Oregon, United States.

Ahye, speaking about the conditions, said, "It's very humid and hot. We were not expecting it to be this humid. I think right now it is in the danger zone, we got the ice (to help cool down)."

In heat one, Great Britain won in 41.55 to send a strong warning.

USA finished second in 41.90 and a weakened Jamaican quartet grabbed the third automatic qualification spot with a time of 42.15.

Women’s 100m and 200m Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah and 100m silver medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce did not run in the heats.

France (42.68) and Netherlands (42.81) finished fourth and fifth respectively in heat one. Those times were enough to qualify for the finals set for Friday at 9.30 am (TT time).