As the 14th edition of the World Championships draws to a close today at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, T&T go in search of more medals, to add to Jehue Gordon's gold in the 400 metres hurdles on Thursday.First in action at 8.31 am (TT time), will be T&T's 4x100m women's relay team in heat three, where the top two from each heat advance, as well as the two fastest losers. T&T have been drawn in lane three with USA in lane four, Russia in lane six and Poland in seven.For T&T, Kamira Durant of Simplex will run the first leg, Michelle-Lee Ahye of Rebirth the second, Reyare Thomas of Neon Trackers, the third, with Kai Selvon of Airborne Sonics running the final leg. The change in the order of running is due to the absence of both Kelly Ann Baptiste and Semoy Hackett. Hackett was set to run the anchor leg but Selvon was handed the responsibility."Yes, normally I run the third leg but this time around, I will run the final leg," said Selvon, who reached the semifinals of the Women's 200m."We are confident ahead of the 4x100m relay, and we know that we lost two of our other teammates, but we are still going to go out there and give of our best and try to represent ourselves and the country to the best of our ability."
Manager of the T&T team, Dexter Voisin told the Sunday Guardian, "There is confidence. They can first reach the finals and then let us see what happens. This team won the CAC (Central American and Caribbean) gold medal recently in just over 43 seconds, so they know each other well."Next on the World stage, will be the T&T's men 4x100m team, that won the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics in this same event.T&T will race in heat one of three, with the same rules as the women applying for progress to the finals.The opening heat is clearly the toughest of the three groups with T&T drawn in lane six, Russia in lane three, overwhelming favourties Jamaica in lane two and Great Britain/Northern Ireland in lane one. The US are in heat two.There are two changes to the local sprint team. With Marc Burns not available and Emmanuel Callender a reserve, Jamol James will run the opening leg with Keston Bledman running the second, Rondell Sorillo, the third and Richard Thompson the anchor leg.
After failing to progress to the final of the Mens 100m, Thompson is fired up saying: "We definitely have a chip on our shoulders now and we just want to go in there and have the flag flying in the final as it is not just about being in the final of the 4x100. We have realistic goals in both events. For me a realistic goal was to make the individual final in the 100m and a realistic goal is for us to medal in the 4x100m."We can pull together. It was a sub par season for me, track and field is a funny sport but we are coming out to give our best in the relays," said a defiant Thompson.Bledman was third in the third semifinal in a time of 10.08 and is thriving for medal after missing out in his individual event."I now have to go back and focus on the relay and go out there and try and get a medal," said Bledman."Marc (Burns) is not here but we have to do it for him, going back to T&T on that long nine hour flight without a medal will not be good."
Voisin feels that T&T have a credible chance of getting success in the event."These are very talented guys and in this event, we have a good record. They have trained well and they have promised to come out and give everything from the start. They want a medal and they are a very determined and dedicated bunch."The women's 4x100m final is scheduled for 10.10am today while the men's 4x100m finals will feature at 10.40am (TT time), the last event at the Championships.Aleesha Barber was T&T's only participant yesterday when she competed in the Women's 100 metres hurdles. Running in the third heat and in lane two, the 26-year-old started well but was quickly out of contention as Olympic champion Sally Pearson prevailed convincingly in a season best 12.50 seconds. Barber finished a disappointing eighth in 13.52 and failed to advance to the final. Her time was the 23rd best in the semifinals.