Women’s relay team fails to finish; Strachan walks off

TOKYO, Japan – Feeling a twitch in her knee during the heats of the women’s 4×400 meters (m) on Thursday, Anthonique Strachan decided to walk off the track about 100 meters into her anchor leg and Team Bahamas ended with a “DNF” (did not finish) on the official results sheet of that event at the Japan National Stadium here in Tokyo, Japan.

Strachan, who was sensational in the open 200m, running her fastest times in seven years, said it didn’t make sense finishing the race and risking further injury.

The team of Doneisha Anderson, Megan Moss, Brianne Bethel and Strachan, in that order, was running out of lane two in the first of two semifinal heats on Thursday.

“When we were doing relay exchanges yesterday (Wednesday), my knee caught a cramp and I have some inflammation in the area. It was giving me a lot of discomfort. I wanted to run but at the same time, there were so many times when I didn’t listen to my body and then it messed me up later on, so I felt something and I just decided to stop,” said Strachan afterward.

The women’s 4x400m relay team was the only relay team from The Bahamas to qualify for the Olympics, as the quartet of Anderson, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Moss and Strachan, in that order, ran 3:29.40 at the Blue Marlin Last Chance Meet at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in The Bahamas at the end of June, grabbing the 16th and final qualifying spot in the relay for the Olympics.

Miller-Uibo was unavailable to run in the relay heats here in Tokyo, as she has the final of the women’s 400m tomorrow evening, in which she’ll be looking to successfully defend her Olympic title and make history for The Bahamas.

In the relay heats, the United States had the fastest qualifying time for the final, running 3:20.86 in their semifinal heat. Jamaica qualified second in 3:21.95 and Poland was the third-fastest qualifier, running 3:23.10. Canada grabbed the final non-automatic qualifying spot for the final, running 3:24.05 yesterday.

For The Bahamas, despite starting off in obvious pain, Strachan said she felt compelled to make an effort to run. About 100 meters into her run on the anchor leg and with the team already bringing up the rear, she decided to call it quits. Strachan, the oldest member of the quartet at 27, said if health permits, she will still try to complete her season on the track.

“I’m going to go and get some treatment and see if I could still run some meets later this season if it’s nothing too serious,” she said. “If it is serious, then that means that I would just end my season here on a high note and build off of this for next season.”

Ending a tumultuous experience for her in which she was listed for the open women’s 200m but was then forced to take part in a run-off and lost her spot, only to have one of the three runners pull out of that event at the 11th hour here in Tokyo, resulting in it being too late for her to be inserted again, a visibly distraught Bethel said she’s just ready to go home.

“I’m tired of this. I’m tired of all of this. I’m ready to go home. I’ve been ready to go home since they took my race from me,” she said.

Bethel, 23, ran the third leg for the team yesterday and came into the relay with the fastest flat 400m time of the season – running a personal best of 51.77 seconds for a conference title for the University of Houston Cougars at the American Athletic Conference Championships in Tampa, Florida, in May.

Anderson, 20, who is going into her junior year for the Florida Gators in the fall, said she’ll take what she can from her first Olympic experience and try to build off it for the future.

“This is just a moment to put everything in the past and use it to correct things for the future,” said Anderson. “My experience was OK. I thought it was going to be better for my first Olympics but it was OK.”

Moss, who is going into her junior year for the University of Kentucky Wildcats in the fall, said she, too, will look to build off the experience. She was competing in her first Olympics as well. In fact, all the members of the team, with the exception of Strachan, were running in their first Olympics.

“It’s definitely been an experience to say the least,” said Moss, the only teenager on the team at 19. “The whole trip has been filled with ups and downs, a lot of issues and disorganization in general. I’m happy to be here, on my first Olympic team and I’m just proud of myself.”

Moss said now that her first Olympic experience is over, she will take a few weeks off before resuming her training and preparing for the 2021-2022 season for the Kentucky Wildcats.

“These Olympics just motivate me to come back stronger,” she said. “I’m going to get back in training and look to qualify for the world championships in the 400 meters.”

The next global meet on the calendar, the 18th version of the World Championships in Athletics, is set for July 15-24 at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

Moss has a personal best time of 52.13 seconds in the women’s 400m and is optimistic that she can shave at least two seconds off that time next season.

There is just one event remaining for The Bahamas at these Olympic Games – the women’s 400m final. That event will feature Miller-Uibo running out of lane seven. It is set for 9:35 this evening in Tokyo, 8:35 a.m. Friday in The Bahamas.

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