BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Federation’s top male and female sprinters began their 2016 Rio Olympic Games countdown yesterday (Apr. 30) with mixed performances at the Penn Relays in the United States of America.
The Penn Relays, which is one of the oldest Meets on the world athletics calendar, pits the United States top male and female sprinters against competitors from the rest of the world in relays.
The athletes from St. Kitts and Nevis competed in the Men’s 4x100 and 4x200 and placed third and second respectively, while the women only competed in the 4x100m and finished behind the pack in eighth position.
Producing a strong line-up for the Men’s 4x100m competition, St. Kitts and Nevis had a slow start through Jason Rogers; however, confidence and determination saw the team fighting back to grab fourth spot.
But a review of the race saw one of the USA’s team (USA Red) being disqualified thus bumping the Federation’s boys up to third.
According to the official results, the United States of America team was disqualified for passing the baton outside of the zone.
In the 4x200m, the Federation’s men were well out of place after the first baton exchange, but third leg runner Lestrod Roland blistered around the third curve to put his team in position to get in the medal mix.
A smooth exchange between Roland and Jason Rogers ensured that the Federation would come home in second position in a time of 1:23:31s, some three full second behind the United States which won in a time of 1:20:94.
A slow start from the women saw them failing to compete for the top positions in the race as they were left to fan the dust of all their competitors.
The females, unlike their male counterparts, were only able to muster a poor time of 45:75s, with the United States of America dominating in 42.61s, while Jamaica took second spot with 42:90 and Trinidad and Tobago third with 43:43s.
This Meet allowed the athletic pundits in St. Kitts and Nevis to see the long-awaited return of Tameka Williams, who was banned for using growth hormones at the 2012 Olympics Games in London.
The Meet saw a number of top international star athletes competing with most using it as an opportunity to open their outdoor campaign ahead of the Olympics in August.
