BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - DESPITE voicing their displeasure at what transpired during their 4x100m relay on Thursday (Aug. 18) at the RIO Olympic Games, the St. Kitts-Nevis team appears to be upbeat.
A ‘rookie mistake’ made by one of the younger team members saw the Federation’s sprint quartet moving from first place in the early stages of the race to crossing the finish line last. This resulted in the team losing its chance of advancing to the finals.
Running in Heat one of two alongside teams from the United States and Canada, the Federation’s quartet had a brilliant performance through the opening leg of the race which was run by Jason Rogers.
With senior sprinter Kim Collins on the second leg, team St. Kitts and Nevis seemed set to increase their lead and win the Heat ahead of the favoured Americans. But in the change-over between Collins and Alistar Clarke, something went wrong which cost the Federation the race.
From all appearances, Clarke seemed to have lost concentration on the track, failing to pull off his mark to receive the baton from the incoming athlete.
This did not sit well with those back home as a number of persons took to social media to chastise the young man for his blunder. He was harshly criticized by some while others were far more lenient with their comments.
But Clarke took to his social media page to accept responsibility and defended Collins, explaining that he was not to be blame as some had suggested.
His Facebook post read “Well I take full responsibility for what just took place ... made a rookie mistake and it cost the the team and country my team mates did very well .... Kim was not to blame the 40 year old legend was amazing on second and to Jason and antione my deepest heart felt sorry goes out also to skn …”
The relay was the final event that the Federation would have competed in, meaning that the best result for the team was a semi-finals showing by Collins in the Men’s 100m.
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