Trinidad and Tobago finished the World Indoor Track and Field Championships on a high note, capturing bronze in the men’s 4X400m finals on the final day of action at the Atakoy Athletic Arena in Istanbul, Turkey, yesterday. The quartet of Lalonde Gordon, Renny Quow, Jereem Richards and Jarrin Solomon combined to clock a national record of 3:06:85 to take the bronze medal behind the United States and Great Britain (3:04:72). The local squad was given the silver medal after the USA was disqualified. However, on appeal, they werre reinstated as winners. The result was just short of the medal won at the 1993 edition in Toronto, Canada when Ian Morris, Neil De Silva, Alvin Daniel and Dazel Jules collected silver in 3:07:02, the previous national record. The medal is the lone podium for the local contingent.
In the final event of the three-day championships, the national quartermilers had to work hard for their medal. Gordon started from lane one and was last at the first exchange. He handed over to Quow who moved up to fifth before Richards got into the act. The 18-year old ran a smart race and closed the gap on the top four before handing over to Solomon who moved up to fourth on the back straight and timed his finishing kick to perfection getting by the Russian Vladislav Frolov mere metres before the line to put the red, white and black on the medal table. Minister of Sport Anil Roberts congratulated the team on the success. The seven-member team finished 19th on the medal table. The USA topped the standings with 17 medals (9 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze) with Great Britain 9 (3, 2, 4) and Ethiopia 5 (2, 1, 2) rounding off the top three. Jamaica was 8th with two medals (one gold, one silver) and Bahamas 16th with two silver medals.
Source: www.guardian.co.tt