TRINIDAD AND Tobago’s chances of securing a medal at the Tokyo Games continues to fade as the men’s 4x400-metre relay team placed eighth in the final at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
The national quartet of Deon Lendore, Jereem “The Dream” Richards, Dwight St Hillaire and Machel Cedenio completed the four-lap race in three minutes 0.85 seconds.
Winning gold by a distant margin was the American team of Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin in a season’s best time of 2:55.70.
Netherlands’ Liemarvin Bonevacia, Terrence Agard, Tony van Diepen and Ramsey Angela (2:57.18) captured silver in a new national record while Botswana’s Isaac Makwala, Baboloki Thebe, Zibane Ngozi and Bayapo Ndori (2:57.27) bagged bronze in a new African record.
Running the opening lap for TT, Lendore had a powerful start and was second of the eight nations (behind Botswana) to make a successful handoff, to Richards.
Richards ran valiantly and maintained a strong position until the baton was passed to St Hillaire. The 23-year-old, who ran the anchor leg in the semi-final round on Friday, was unable to keep pace with a surging field and soon faded to the back of the bunch.
During St Hillaire’s leg, television commentators suggested that he may have been injured. However, there has been no official confirmation if the athlete was in fact injured.
By the time the final handoff was made to Cedenio, TT were in eighth place. Known for his last lap heroics, Cedenio was unable to catch up.
TT’s medal hopes now lie in the hands of cyclists Nicholas Paul and Kwesi Browne who contest the men’s kierin quarter-final from 9.29 pm on Saturday (TT time).
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