LONDON – Two Trinidad & Tobago national records fell and three relay teams advanced to Friday’s finals at the 2012 Olympic Games as four sprinters with ties to the LSU Track & Field program are ready to take their place on the medal podium following Thursday’s qualifying action at the Olympic Stadium.
Based on their participation in qualifying, LSU alums Kelly-Ann Baptiste and Samantha Henry-Robinson and seniors Ade Alleyne-Forte and Semoy Hackett will receive Olympic medals with a top-three finish in Friday’s finals whether or not they are given the opportunity to run.
Alleyne-Forte kicked off relay qualifying by running the third leg for Trinidad & Tobago’s foursome that advanced to the Olympic final in the men’s 4×400-meter relay.
After Olympic 400-meter bronze medalist Lalonde Gordon and Jarrin Solomon put the team in position to win the heat with two strong legs, Alleyne-Forte passed the baton to Texas A&M freshman Deon Lendore on the anchor leg as Trinidad & Tobago joined Cuba and Great Britain in a sprint to the finish line.
Lendore beat Great Britain’s Martin Rooney and Cuba’s Omar Cisneros to the finish line to claim the first of two qualifying heats with a national-record run of 3 minutes, 0.38 seconds. Great Britain matched Trinidad & Tobago’s effort with its qualifying time of 3:00.38 for second place in the section, while Cuba ran 3:00.55 for third place and the last automatic qualifying spot for the final.
The Bahamas and United States raced to matching times of 2:58.87 to finish 1-2 in the second heat to take the top two qualifying spots by four seconds ahead of Russia (3:02.01) in third place. Earning their spot in the final on time were Belgium (3:01.70) and Venezuela (3:02.62).
A second Trinidad & Tobago national record fell during the evening session when Baptiste ran the second leg and Hackett ran the anchor leg for its 4×100-meter relay team that clocked 42.31.
The LSU duo teamed with Michelle-Lee Ahye on the leadoff leg and Kai Selvon on the third leg to record the second-fastest qualifying time of the day at 42.31, finishing runner-up to the 41.64 run by the United States in winning the first preliminary heat. The Netherlands (42.45) earned the third automatic qualifying spot in the race, while Brazil (42.55) and Nigeria (42.74) each advanced on time in the first heat.
Henry-Robinson led off Jamaica’s 4×100-meter relay in the second qualifying heat as she teamed with the likes of Sherone Simpson, Schillonie Calvert and Kerron Stewart to run 42.37 for second place and secure their spot in Friday’s final. Jamaica finished just .01 seconds behind Ukraine’s 42.36 for the victory.
Germany crossed the finish line in 42.69 for third place behind Ukraine and Jamaica earning the third spot in the final from the second heat as each of the timed qualifiers emerged from the first heat.
The qualifying teams in the women’s 4×100-meter relay will take their run for the medals in the Olympics final on Friday afternoon at 2:40 p.m. CT. Friday’s action will then come to an end with its running of the men’s 4×400-meter relay final at 3:20 p.m. at the Olympic Stadium.