T&T has two more chances for a medal at the 2012 Olympic Games today in two finals-the men's 4x100-metres relay and the men's javelin here in London. The sprint quartet of Richard Thompson, Emmanuel Callender, Marc Burns and Keston Bledman advanced to the final, when they placed third in heat two of the semifinals with a season best of 38.10.
"There are a few things we need to clean up. We need to look at the film and make some adjustments. Some of the legs were less than perfect but we're in the final. That was our goal," said Thompson, who ran the anchor leg when T&T claimed silver in the event, four years ago in Beijing, China. But this time around he ran the first leg. "We feel confident, this is the best order for the team," said Burns. "We can drop the time to under 38 and challenge for the medal. We made it to the next round and that is what matters."
Bledman ran a splendid anchor leg to get T&T into the medal race after a not-so-perfect hand-over from Callender. In the final 50 metres, he powered forward from sixth to finish behind USA (37.38) and Japan (38.07), respectively. The final is scheduled for 2.45 pm today. "Each of us knows the adjustments we need to make for the final," said Burns. "We'll be okay."
The sky is the limit for 19-year-old Keshorn Walcott, who will look to create more history when he attempts to send his spear past the best of the best in the men's javelin final from 2.20 pm (T&T time). The world junior champion accomplished his first goal by getting into the final with his last attempt in an amazing effort. He tossed the spear 81.75 metres to place tenth overall on Wednesday evening.
Walcott goes into the medal round as the most successful field athlete in T&T and will look to take down Czech Republic Vitezslav Vesely, who qualified on top with a personal-best throw of 88.34, followed by Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen (84.47) and Tero Pitkamaki (83.01), respectively.
