Sprinters finish sixth

"I think we ran as well as we could," Mississauga Track and Field club sprinter Anson Henry told CBC this morning after the Canadian 4X100 metre team finished sixth in the finals of the premier relay event at the 2008 Beijing Games.
"I think our exchanges were a little too tight and close and we couldn't make up the time there, like we needed too," said Henry.
The Canadians were right with the field through the first two exchanges run by Hank Palmer and Henry before Usain "Lightning" Bolt got the baton and opened up a big lead as Jamaica headed to a world record of 37.10. That lowered the mark held by the Americans by an astounding .3 of a second.
Pierre Brown, the other Mississauga Track member on the team, made up a couple of steps in the last leg, but could not move them up a placing.
"I'm satisfied with it but I wanted to get a medal today," Brown said immediately after the race. "I'm disappointed we didn't get one."
Jared Connaughton of Prince Edward Island, who ran the third leg, said "38.66 is a good time on any other day, but not in the Olympic final. " Connaughton vowed that the young Canadian team will only get stronger.
Trinidad and Tobago finished a distant second to the Jamaicans to claim the silver medal, while the Japanese were delighted to take home the bronze.
Canada came into the Games as the sixth-ranked 400 metre relay team in the world, and that's exactly where they finished.

jstewart@mississauga.net