“We ran for each other. We ran for our country. And we ran for Deon.”
Asa Guevara was a proud man at the end of the men’s 4x400 metres heats at the World Athletics Championships here in Eugene, Oregon, USA, on Saturday. Motivated by the memory of deceased teammate Deon Lendore, the Trinidad and Tobago combination of Dwight St Hillaire, Jereem “The Dream” Richards, Guevara and Kashief King secured a spot in Sunday’s 10.35pm (TT time) final.
T&T returned a time of three minutes, 02.75 seconds to finish fourth in the opening heat. United States won in 2:58.96, beating Japan (3:01.53) and Jamaica (3:01.59) into second and third, respectively. With only the top three teams in each heat progressing automatically to the final, the T&T runners had to wait on the result of heat two to know their fate.
Belgium won that race in 3:01.96, from Czech Republic (3:02.42) and Poland (3:02.51). With fourth-placed France clocking 3:03.13, T&T were handed a championship race berth on time.
St Hillaire ran the leadoff leg for T&T, handing the baton to Richards fifth but within striking distance of three teams—Jamaica, Japan and Netherlands.
“Running out of lane two,” St Hillaire told the Express, “it was always a challenge. My goal was to keep Jereem in the race, just make sure that he doesn't have to run the turn as hard as possible so he would have enough energy to come home and bring it to Asa.”
Richards produced an impressive run, splitting 44.82 seconds to put T&T into fourth spot and in contention for a top-three finish. Solid Guevara kept T&T in fourth on the final handoff.
Anchorman King was courageous, charging into second on the back straight. He faded coming home, but held on for fourth spot and a place in the final.
“I'm very proud of this team,” said Richards. “Special shout out to Kashief with his first major championship run. He made a very, very bold move of going out aggressive. I’m very proud of him, especially as it’s his first time on a World Championship team. Everybody ran with heart, ran with soul, put everything out there. I know Deon will be proud of this team.”
A spirit of unity, according to Guevara, propelled Team TTO into the final.
“I felt pretty good about this new team running with each other. We did our thing. Before we ran, we made sure we spoke about it. We said it ain't about yourself … I'm proud, I’m proud with what happened today.”
King’s brave back straight bolt was not in the script, but it got the job done.
“It wasn’t the race plan or race strategy that my coaches and I had in mind. But they also said we have to adapt to the race. Going into the last leg, we weren’t in the position we wanted to be, and I had two options. I could either trail and try to run home or use the energy while I had it to go to the front. I chose that option.
“I knew I had energy,” King continued. “I'm gonna use it. I'm gonna fight till the end, fight for myself, fight for my team and try to make everybody proud. They are happy with my performance. I'm happy as well. Hopefully we make it into the finals and have a second go at it.”
King got his wish. T&T will line up in lane nine in the championship race. Heat winners Belgium and United States have been drawn in five and six, respectively. Halfway through heat two, Botswana dropped the baton while in the lead, and finished seventh and last in 3:07.32, but were later advanced to the final by the referee. They will start in lane one.