media_artricles :: 2017

Serrette laments errors at World Relays

Trinidad and Tobago failed to medal for the second time in a row as the IAAF/BTC World Relays ended on Sunday in the Bahamas.

It was a disappointing ending for the red, white and black with poor baton transfer again proving the undoing of the women's 4x100m team. TT had three medals at the inaugural World Relays but the last two editions have not gone to plan for this country. 

On Sunday, the 4x100m quartet of Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Michelle-Lee Ahye, Khalifa St Fort and Semoy Hackett failed to finish their heat with the baton dropping on one of the exchanges. Stunningly, Germany produced a confidence-boosting victory in that heat and rode that momentum all the way into the final where they managed to attain their first IAAF/BTC World Relays title over favourites Jamaica with a 42.84 performance. 

Jamaica (42.95) and China (43.11) followed in second and third respectively. 

TT 's mixed team finished seventh in the finals of the 4x400m while the Men's 4x200m and 4x400m teams finished fourth in their finals. 

Moriba Morain, Dan-Neil Telesford, Kyle Greaux and Emmanuel Callender battled for Team TTO in the 4x200m, however, their time of 1:21.39 minutes was not quick enough to get on the podium, trailing Canada (1:19.42), USA (1:19.88) and Jamaica. 

The 4x400m really team had high aspirations of a medal but Renny Quow, Jereem Richards, Jarrin Solomon and Lalonde Gordon struggled in the final after winning their heat impressively on Saturday. 

The quartet stopped the clock at 3:03.17 behind USA (3:02.13), Botswana (3:02.28) and Jamaica in 3:02.86. 

Speaking in a telephone interview with Newsday last evening, Ephraim Serrette, president of the National Association of Athletics Administration (NAAA), remained optimistic despite TT missing out on medals. 

"Relays is about getting the stick around the track and there are many technicalities and violations which can occur and contribute towards disqualification as seen throughout the competition. However, due to the relays being one of the earlier events in the season, athletes were neither at their peak nor were involved in full preparations heading into the tournament and this was evident as minor errors cost the athletes," he said. 

Multiple Olympic medallist for Trinidad and Tobago and world-renowned athletics commentator, Ato Boldon, chimed in on Twitter following the baton woes of the TT women's 4x100m team. 

Bolden tweeted, "Continued failure to practice properly and consistently will lead to continued drops and surprises.Simple. #TeamTTO #donetalk." Despite the lack of medals, there were positive takeaways from Team TTO 's lacklustre performance in the Bahamas, according to Serrette. 

Team TTO qualified for finals of the 2017 IAAF World Championships in both the male 4x200m and 4x400m events, scheduled for August this year, as the top eight teams from the World Relay finals will feature in London at the upcoming tournament. 

Also, Team TTO placed an overall fifth on the point standings with 17 points. 

Serrette explained that TT 's athletes are set to be enrolled into their respective training camps over the coming weeks in preparation for the World Championships.

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