T&T’s 4x100m relay team celebrate after capturing silver medals in the event yesterday

Okay okaay yep Im having a flashback to my article on August 23rd 2008 ....lets hope I can repeat one like it or even better!

For those who missed itin 2008 please Read below!

T&T’s 4x100m relay team celebrate after capturing silver medals in the event yesterday.

Andre E Baptiste

From Beijing, China

EVEN as T&T celebrates its second best ever showing at an Olympic Games, following a second silver earned when the 4 x100m relay team placed second to Jamaica yesterday at the Bird Nets in Beijing, China the news is that the team may not be returning home next week as expected.

In 1964, T&T achieved its best ever medal count at the Tokyo Games—one silver, Wendell Mottley in the 400m, and two bronze medals, through Edwin Roberts, 200m and the men’s 4 x400m relay team of Mottley, Kent Bernard, Roberts and Edwin Skinner.

Richard Thompson who won T&T’s first silver medal at this year’s Beijing Games in the men’s 100m, said that celebrations to honour the team’s performance may have to be put on hold.

“I am not sure as yet, when I will be coming back home, but I am looking forward to coming back home because it has been a wonderful time for all of us,” said Thompson.

“The relay team has been invited to Zurich to run the 4 x100 metres and there maybe one or two other meets afterwards on August 29. After that we will definitely be back home and we hope to see a full airport of fans, just waiting to celebrate with us. It is the best feeling in the world to run for your country,” he said.

“And now that people want to see us run, it is good for Trinidad and Tobago, it helps to put us on the map even more and let more and more people learn about us and our culture,” noted Thompson.

Marc Burns said, “Yes we have an opportunity to run in some meets, so we are not certain of a date as yet, but we are looking forward to returning home, to be celebrating with the people.”

Burns said Emmanuel Callender and Keston Bledman are very excited to return home.

“These two guys are great guys, they made our job easier, the chemistry between them on and off the track was exceptional.”

T&T 4x400m men finish 5th 

T&T’s men’s 4 x 400m team failed to advance to today's final, when they could only place fifth in their semifinal heat two.

Running from lane two, T&T was never in the hunt, and only once when Jevon Toppin ran a brilliant second leg, they managed to get as close as fourth.

But in the end, the team of Ato Modibo, Jovon Toppin, Cowin Mills and Stan Waithe finished in a time of 3:04.12, with Great Britain winning in a time of 2.59.33. Bahamas was second in 2.59.88 and Jamaica third in 3.00.09.

T&T’s 400 metres finalist, Renny Quow did not participate in the relay semifinal.

Men 4x100 Relay Final

1. Jamaica (Nesta Carter; Michael Frater; Usain Bolt; Asafa Powell), 37.10 Gold (WR),

2. T&T (Keston Bledman; Marc Burns; Emmanuel Callender; Richard Thompson), 38.06 Silver,

3. Japan (Naoki Tsukahara; Shingo Suetsugu; Shinji Takahira; Nobuharu Asahara), 38.15 Bronze.

4. Brazil (Vicente Lima; Sandro Viana; Bruno de Barros; Jose Carlos Moreira), 38.24.

5. Germany (Tobias Benjamin Unger; Till Helmke; Alexander Kosenkow; Martin Keller), 38.58.

6. Canada (Hank Palmer; Anson Henry; Jared Connaughton; Pierre Browne), 38.66.

7. Netherlands (Maarten Heisen; Guus Hoogmoed; Patrick van Luijk; Caimin Douglas), 45.81.

NR. China (Wen Yongyi; Zhang Peimeng; Lu Bin; Hu Kai), DQ.

Men 4x400m Relay Heat 2

1. Britain (Andrew Steele; Robert Tobin; Michael Bingham; Martyn Rooney), 2:59.33 (Q).

2. Bahamas (Michael Mathieu; Avard Moncur; Ramon Miller; Andrae Williams), 2:59.88 (Q).

3. Jamaica (Michael Blackwood; Alodin Fothergill; Sanjay Ayre; Ricardo Chambers), 3:00.09 (Q).

4. Germany (Simon Kirch; Kamghe Gaba; Ruwen Faller; Bastian Swillims), 3:03.49.

5. T&T (Ato Modibo; Jovon Toppin; Cowin Mills; Stan Waithe), 3:04.12.

6. Japan (Mitsuhiro Abiko; Dai Tamesue; Yoshihiro Horigome; Kenji Narisako), 3:04.18.

7. Greece (Stylianos Dimotsios; Dimitrios Gravalos; Pantelis Melachroinoudis; Konstantinos Anastasiou), 3:04.30.

8. Dominican Republic (Carlos Yohelin Santa; Arismendy Peguero; Pedro Mejia; Yoel Tapia), 3:04.31.