The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE men’s 4 x 200 metre relay team of Blake Bartlett, Adrian Griffith, Wesley Neymour and Andretti Bain, already established as the new

national record holders, can also boast of at least being a part of an historic race.

The quartet had to settle for sixth place in the final on day one of the inaugural World Relays at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium on Saturday.

The race was dominated by Jamaica, whose squad of Nickel Ashmeade, Warren Weir, Jermaine Brown and Yohan Blake shattered the second of two world records without Usain Bolt in the line-up.

The Jamaicans clocked one minute and 18.63 seconds to erase the previous world record of 1:18.68 that was held by the American Santa Monica Track Club of 1:18.68 in Walnut, California in 1994.

The Americans actually got disqualified for stepping out of the exchange zone and St Kitts & Nevis ended up picking up the silver in 1:20.51 with the bronze going to France in 1:20.66.

“We went in there and we didn’t care about the Jamaicans and we didn’t care about the US,” said Bain about the team’s performance. “We honestly believed that we had a shot to win it. These are the relays. Anything could happen. We went out there and we gave it our best shot. Thank God for the sixth place that we were able to get.”

Griffith admitted that their exchanges could have been executed much better, but they went out there and gave it their best. “We have to be happy. We made it to the final, running the event for the first time,” he said.

As a 400 metre specialist, Neymour said he went out and tried to hang with the legitimate sprinters. “On soil, I’m proud that they broke the world record,” Neymour said. “But we are looking forward to coming back next year stronger. We know what to expect.”

On his leg, Bartlett said it was great to be included in the mix. “We had the home crowd out there cheering and supporting for us, so all we had to do was go out there and run hard,” he said. “The guys came up with their best and they ended up with the world record.”

While the Bahamas will go down with a sixth place ranking in the world, Bartlett, Griffith, Neymour and Bain will have their names added to the track and field almanac with a national record behind it, having ran 1:22.18 to qualify earlier in the day.