Less than 24 hours after their historic third-place finish in Saturday's IAAF World Championship women's 4x100 metres final, Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Michelle-Lee Ahye, Reyare Thomas and Semoy Hackett returned to the Bird's Nest Stadium here in Beijing, China, yesterday, to receive their bronze medals.

Baptiste, who ran the leadoff leg for Trinidad and Tobago, told the Express that the medal ceremony was a very special occasion.

“It felt good to see our flag being raised, and knowing that it was our efforts that got it there. When you have those experiences, it drives you more to push yourself and be a better athlete, and to keep on having those types of occurrences at every championship.”

For Ahye, the T&T second leg runner, it was an emotional experience.

“Once I saw the flag going up, it kind of brought a tear to my eye. I kind of held it in, but I felt really proud to be out there.”

Third leg runner Thomas concurred.

“It felt great to know we were able to get a bronze medal and make Trinidad and Tobago proud.”

Anchorwoman Hackett gave her impressions of the medal ceremony.

“We were happy and a bit emotional,” she told the Express, “because of the struggle we have had in the relay, and individually as athletes. To actually get it done on the major stage was overwhelming. I felt proud of all of us. We went out as a team and we got the job done as a team. We achieved everything as a team.”

While Khalifa St Fort was not on the podium, yesterday, she contributed as well to World Championship bronze, the 17-year-old anchoring the team to second spot in their qualifying heat.

St Fort hopes to be part of future medal ceremonies. On this occasion, she recorded the moment.

“It felt great,” said the bubbly teenager. “I loved watching them. It was so exciting to see the Trinidad and Tobago flag go up, and they looked so happy. I took so many pictures. I'm so proud of them.”

The flags of the medal-winning countries are raised at all medal ceremonies. This time, IAAF World Championship women's 4x1 gold went to Jamaica, with United States getting silver and T&T bronze. Only one anthem, however, is played, and the requirement is gold. Yesterday, the honour went to Jamaica.

Baptiste said she is looking forward to the day “Forged from the Love of Liberty” is played during a women's 4x100m medal ceremony at a major senior global meet.

“That could happen very soon,” the 2011 World Championship 100m bronze medallist declared, “very very soon. Especially for the other girls, since it's their first time actually being on that podium, I know it's extra motivation for them to train hard and to compete with the best of the best in the world.”

Hackett is already looking forward to T&T's Olympic medal bid.

“Hopefully, next year we can go on and be stronger and better for Rio 2016.”

Quadruple Olympic medallist Ato Boldon is now coaching, and has been a key figure in the preparation of the women's 4x100m team here in Beijing.

T&T manager Dexter Voisin has also played an important role on the journey.

“I have been around this team from since 2005,” Voisin told the Express, “and I think I qualify to give a comment on what I think went well with regards to this 4x1.

“In the past, the women, just as the men, we always tried for them to understand the importance of relays. In these major championships, even when the men were disappointing in their individual events, somehow or the other we were able to pull out some medals in the relays.

“This time around,” he continued, “the women, they understood their potential, understood how they stood coming into this championship with regard to the relay. I remember in one of the team meetings I made them understand that they need to see the relay differently in comparison to how they looked at it in the past.”

Voisin said evidence of the new relay attitude was on display after Hackett and Thomas exited the 200m event at the semi-final stage.

“The following day,” said the manager, “they were out on the track going through the paces with the batons. In the past they would take a day-off and then come the following day. But they saw where they needed to go out there and work on the baton passing. They recognised the baton passing was the problem over the years, and they understood what needed to be done at these Championships.”

Yesterday, T&T's best female sprinters enjoyed the fruit of their labour—World Championship bronze medals as a reward for Saturday's 42.03 seconds national record run.

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IN STARK contrast to their miserable start, Trinidad and Tobago’s IAAF World Championships campaign ended in joy and relief yesterday, as the Men’s 4x400m Relay squad finished a close second to the United States in the event that brought the curtain down on the nine-day programme in Beijing, China.

Twenty-four hours after the TT women won 4x100m Relay bronze, ensuring the contingent would not return home empty- handed, the “mile relay” men produced a silver medal-winning performance that did even more to repair the country’s reputation as a producer of fine athletes through the decades.

The two podium finishes, just one day apart, presented a welltimed gift as the nation celebrates 53 years of independence today, much as Javelin-thrower Keshorn Walcott’s Olympic gold did on August 11, 2012.

Having produced the second-fastest qualifying time behind the Americans, the TT men, knew they would have to run even faster to be sure of a podium finish. Machel Cedenio came in for Jarrin Solomon and was assigned the anchor leg. Renny Quow had opening leg responsibility once again, while Lalonde Gordon was moved to second and Deon Lendore remained on third.

The noise was deafening at the Bird’s Nest Stadium as, starting in lane four, the diminutive Quow gave TT a fantsatic start, completing the circuit in 43.23 seconds; Gordon’s split was 45.68, but Lendore, fresher than the others because he did not compete in the 400m, ran a 44.75 that had them just about level with the US on the final handover. Cedenio then took them home in 44.14 seconds; however, LaShawn Merritt held him off for the US to claim gold in a world-leading two minutes, 57.82 seconds.

The TT men actually lowered the national record- 2:58.20, to finish just 38-hundredths of a second behind the winners.

Great Britain took the bronze in 2:58.51, the same time as Jamaica who were adjudged to have finished four thousandths of a second slower. The Jamaicans had been ahead of the British, but Javon Francis faded in the final metres.

The result gave Trinidad and Tobago its first ever medals in the 4x400m at a World Championship; Quow, Lendore and Gordon were all part of the team that won relay bronze at the London 2012 Olympics. As the TT men celebrated, the Jamaica camp was even more jubilant, as just before the Men’s final they had claimed gold in the Women’s mile relay in a world-leading three minutes, 19.13 seconds. A brilliant run on the straight by the experienced Novlene Williams-Mills had won it, as the veteran overhauled the fading Francena McCorory in the final metres to snatch the gold from the Americans. The Jamaican quartet of Christine Day, Shericka Jackson, Stephenie- Ann McPherson and Williams-Mills could not contain their emotions after the victory.

The US got the silver in 3:19.44 while Britain (3:23.62) took the bronze.

“These girls, they did it all the way. That is when you have the heart of a champion, that is what you do,” Williams-Mills said following the victory.

Jamaica, with 7 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals finished second behind table-toppers Kenya in the standings, pushing the USA back to third; TT , with a silver and bronze finished tied for 22nd with the Bahamas and the Ukraine in the medal count. Trinidad and Tobago was also tied for third with the Bahamas among the Caribbean teams, behind Jamaica (2nd) and Cuba (10th) overall of the 32 teams that got among the medals.

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Sports Minister Brent Sancho and TT Olympic Committee (TTO C) president Brian Lewis have both congratulated the TT athletes and officials in Beijing for their medal successes at the World Championships.

In a media release yesterday, Sancho responded, “What a way to end the Championships! The disappointments suffered by Team TT earlier in the meet have been turned into joy and adulation as Trinidad and Tobago mounts the podium for the second time this Independence weekend. Setting a NR also shows the tremendous resilience and determination with which the athletes ran.

Trinidad and Tobago is proud, and supremely proud of you — Jarrin Solomon, Renny Quow, Lalonde Gordon, Machel Cedenio and Deon Lendore.

We also congratulate the NAAA and all the athletes’ support staff on the success. May it continue into Rio 2016!” Lewis is in New Zealand representing the TTO C and the Commonwealth Games Association at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly in Auckland.

Admitting he missed the TT women’s bronze medal performance, he said it was great for women’s sprinting in TT .

“I am delighted for them, in particular KellyAnn Baptiste and Seymoy Hackett who endured a torrid and difficult two years,” he said. “Their resilence and indomitable will to put those difficult days behind them is to their credit.” Lewis also paid credit to Ato Boldon, who joined the coaching team in Beijing, and president of the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) Ephraim Serrette.

“Lets build on this,” he continued. “As I continue to call for greater collaboration and cooperation and alignment between national sport organisations, TTO C, Ministry of Sport and Sport Company. Lets ensure our athletes get the support they need when they need it. Not when they win medals.

Rio 2016 is less than 365 days away.”

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The voting power of countries which have hosted the Pan American Games on multiple occasions is set to be significantly diluted under a new Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) Constitution.

A proposed version of the new document - which has been approved by the PASO Executive Committee for circulation, but which remains subject to input from regional National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and approval by the PASO General Assembly before it can enter effect - currently contains two options.

The first of these amounts to a simple "one country one vote" formula; the second would permit a second vote for past Games hosts, but only for elections to determine where future events will be staged.

Present rules give past Pan American Games hosts up to five votes in both host city and Executive Committee elections, including the election of the President.

These rules tend to favour the region’s bigger nations.

Comments prepared by the President of PASO’s Legal Commission note that the Executive Committee has concluded that the existing voting structure is “not sustainable”.

In a move that might be interpreted as an attempt to ensure there are no surprise outside candidates at next year’s Presidential election, the working document also contains wording insisting on three years’ experience as a top NOC official “immediately preceding” a Presidential candidate’s nomination.

Julio Maglione, the 79-year-old Uruguayan who is completing the late Mario Vázquez Raña’s term as PASO President, has promised not to seek the role on a permanent basis.

Those who are thought to be considering running for the position include Carlos Nuzman, President of the Brazilian Olympic Committee and head of the Organising Committee for Rio 2016, Ivar Sisniega, the first vice-president of PASO, who formerly led Mexico’s National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport, José Joaquín Puello of the Dominican Republic and possibly Richard Peterkin, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) member from Saint Lucia.

The working document, which runs to more than 100 pages and has been seen by insidethegames, proposes a three-term - ie 12-year - limit for the PASO President, but not for Executive Committee members.

It stipulates that the “headquarters registered office” of PASO be in Mexico City, while stating that it may be transferred to another location “by decision of the Executive Committee”.

It states that, while the official languages of PASO are Spanish and English, it is the Spanish text that will continue to prevail in case of conflict.

It spells out that the Pan American Torch is to be lit pre-Games at a special ceremony at the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico; the current version says merely that the ceremony should be in Mexico.

The new document is the combined result of work by the Statute Amendments Commission and the Executive Committee.

Proposals for changes to the current wording are to be considered before a final document is presented to NOCs for approval.

Once the final wording is adopted by the General Assembly, the text must then, in turn, be approved by the IOC.

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