Determination despite disappointment

The men’s 4x400m relay team (Jarrin Solomon, Lalonde Gordon, Deon Lendore and Machel Cedenio) were disqualfied after finishing third in the qualifier for a lane violation. Their 4x100m counterparts (Keston Bledman, Rondell Sorrillo, Emmanuel Callender and Richard Thompson) suffered a similar fate in a dismal seventh-place finish in their qualifying heat in 38.09 seconds

The Women’s 4x100m unit (Semoy Hackett, Michelle-Lee Ahye, Kelly- Ann Baptiste and Khalifa St Fort) ran fifth in the final with a season best of 42.12, improving on the 42.62 third place they ran in their qualifier. The individual performances were also left wanting save for the brilliant Ahye who was our lone representative in the short-sprint finals. She ran sixth (10.92) in the final and placed second in her semifinal (to eventual silver winner, Tori Bowie) in 10.90 in the 100m. In round one, she won her qualifier in 11-flat with Hackett running third in hers in 11.35. Hackett went out in the semis, placing fifth in 11.20 while Baptiste was the first to exit in the qualifier running fourth in 11.42. In the 200m, Ahye ran sixth in 22.34, following up on running second in her semis in a national record time of 22.25. Ahye won her qualifier in 22.50 with Hackett running 22.78 to place second in her qualifier. Hackett exited in the semis though with 22.94 landing her sixth. TT’s other competitor in the event, Reyare Thomas, ran the first heat and was sent packing in fifth (22.97). Sparkle McKnight failed to glow in the Women’s 400m hurdles in the qualifier, running fifth in 56.80, while Janeil Bellille advanced from hers despite running fifth in 56.25. The latter exited in the ensuing semis running sixth in 56.06.

On the Men’s side, Sorillo ran third in his 100m qualifier in 10.23 which was not enough to advance. Bledman exited his in fifth (10.20) with ‘Torpedo’ Thompson failing to explode in sixth in his qualfi er (10.29), heralding the end of a career boasting two silvers from Beijing 2008 and one from London 2012. In the 200m, Kyle Greaux faced off against the legend, Usain Bolt, in their qualifier and ended up running fourth in 20.61 to exit the event. Sorillo followed next in the heats with 20.27 taking third and advancing him. In the first semifinal, he ran fifth in 20.23 and was also sent packing. Mikel Thomas failed to advance from the heats in the Men’s 110m hurdles as he landed seventh in 13.68.

Jehue Gordon’s ambition failed to match his strides as he finished last in his 400m hurdles heat in 49.98 to also depart the qualifiers. The 2013 World champion seems still hampered by a 2015 surgery for a torn abdominal muscle.

In the 400m, Cedenio was a beacon of hope as he finished the qualifiers in the second-best time. He won his in 44.98 with Gordon (Lalonde) topping his in 45.24. Lendore ran sixth in 46.15 to head out the doors.

Gordon (Lalonde) eventually ran last in his semis in 45.13 while Cedenio won his in 44.39 (ahead of the man who would win the gold and break the world record, Wade van Kiekirk). In the final, van Niekerk’s 45.03 stunned the world with Grenada’s Kirani James (43.76) and USA’s LaShawn Merritt (43.85) miles behind. Cedenio finished a commendable fourth in 44.01 in arguably the best 400m race since Michael Johson’s feats in 1996 and 2000.

Cleopatra Borel’s shot put effort was another bright spot as she ended seventh in the final. She faced 12 competitors and threw 18.37m with USA’s Michelle Alexander winning gold in 20.63. ‘Cleo’ threw the eight-best in the qualifiers in 18.20m and her tears when told of her advancement by ESPN commentators drew global awe. With all major medal hopes dashed, everything else seemed a formality.

Boxer, Nigel Paul, was swiftly knocked out by Nigeria’s Efe Ajagba at 2:44 in the opening round of the super heavyweight (over 91kg) bout. Njisane Phillip all but headed to the retirement door by failing in the Men’s cycling sprint.

After a blistering qualifying time of 9.81 seconds, he lost to China’s Xu Chao in the next round and also failed in the repechage against Maximilian Levy (Germany) and Edward Dawkins (New Zealand), cycling last.

Olympic rowing debutant and TT’s oldest athlete, Aisha Chow, placed fourth in the ‘D’ final of the Women’s Scull Rowing event, finishing 22nd overall, completing her course in seven minutes and 50 seconds. Men’s Laser Class sailor Andrew Lewis finished with 324 points and 39th overall. In his 10-race Olympic journey, Lewis scored 42; 34; 39; 36; 40; 34; 31; was disqualified in race eight; 36 and 32, as he eyes Tokyo 2020. Christopher George, the country’s first judo representative at this level, lost to Myanmar’s Yan Naing Soe in the Men’s 100kg contest qualifier, while Marisa Dick also left Rio in the first round with 50.832 in her events proving far from what was required

Swimmer, Dylan Carter, showed he’s one for the future as he won his Men’s 100m freestyle heat in 48.80 (national record) but it ended up being the 23rd best time and far outside the top 16. He broke George Bovell’s record as the latter also failed to make a splash in Brazil, bringing the curtain down on a decorated career (bronze in Athens 2004) as he lashed out at administration and athletes for doping allegations. In the 50m freestyle, Bovell ended 27th on the list, swimming third in his race in 22.30 in an underwhelming swansong in his fifth Olympics. With the Games over, much introspection is needed by all parties involved to see how to move forward because if TT is to maintain its Olympic pedigree of past, another performance like Rio 2016 won’t be of much help