Relay team ready to take care of business
There’s only one way, Jared Connaughton knows, to stop the doubters running their mouths.
And that’s to run the way they’re capable of running.
“Put it like this,’’ challenged Canada’s undisputed 4x100 relay commander on a toasty, near-idyllic early evening inside the Olympic Stadium on Friday. “In 1995, the Canadians won the world championships and ran 38.3. So while some of those guys have talked a lot about how we couldn’t carry the torch for this generation ...’’
His eyes, set on stun, didn’t blink.
“Well, we just did that tonight.’’
Canada’s quartet — Gavin Smellie, Oluseyi Smith, Connaughton and anchor Justyn Warner — made their podium intentions abundantly clear in Heat 1 Friday. Despite a few technical glitches, they blistered to a season-best 38.05. Only a Bolt-less Jamaica, in 37.95, and the U.S., in 38.07, had better giddy up over the heats.
Clean up a couple of those loose odds and ends, and ... .
“It’s something they’ve been capable of doing for a while,’’ said coach Glenroy Gilbert. “It was just a matter of getting it done when it counted. They’ve got to get out there and run even better because I think the final’s going to be really hot.
“They’re the ones dealing with a lot of pressure out there. You guys understand that. It’s a pressure-cooker. It’s difficult, but I think having done (the 38.05) now probably some of the nerves will be settled for tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be able to clean up some of the passes.’’
Obviously a tough marker, Connaughton graded Canada’s performance as a B+.
“Oluseyi ran up on me a little bit. I had to kind of reach for Justin. I think the difference is our first leg. Gavin really set it off for us. And that’s what we’ve been looking for six months. We’re ready to win a medal. I’m completely 100-percent honest. We’re going to take care of business.
“The improvement is incremental. It’s like minutiae, you know? Our goal is to run 37 seconds and we ran 38.05. Justin’s running the best he’s run in his life. He gets the stick early, I think we’ll break 38.’’
Break that, and they’ll break a lot of misconceptions.
Are we on the verge of an epochal moment for Canadian sprinting? Back on the podium on the world’s grandest stage in a major way? Four summers ago, remember, Canada reached the 4x100 final, too, only to finish sixth.
Connaughton insists those days, the also-ran days, are long behind them.
“We’re here,’’ he said flatly, “to be contenders. In Beijing, it was just make the final. We made the final and then we kind of got lost in the bright lights. A few years ago in Delhi we did the same thing, first in qualifiers and then messed up in the final and didn’t even get a medal.
“It’s from the shoulders up. When you think you can compete with the Jamaicas and Trinidads and the United States, you can. This is not the 200-metre final, where there’s thoroughbreds. This is a team thing. We rally around that.’’
The psychological dynamics change dramatically in a final. Saturday, Bolt will doubtless be back and his presence alone has the power to disrupt the balance of things. Gilroy, an old hand at this game, understands the inherent danger of becoming Usainobsessed.
“Look, Jamaica is a superior team. They’re very, very good. We’re looking at guys running at 10.1 speed. We have to keep things in perspective, OK? We can’t be concerned about Bolt, we can’t be concerned about the Americans. About any other team. We have to get out there and compete.’’
“We’ve got a lot more in us,’’ promised Warner, who’ll likely be running the anchor leg against the World’s Fastest Human. “If Bolt’s out front, I’ll just let him drag me along. My goal is to go out there and beat him.”
It’s exciting, Warner says, to have come this far since convening in February at Miramar, Fla.
“We’ve put in a lot of work. They’ve put a lot of money and funding into the 4x100 program because they believe we can go out there and medal,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to do. There’s no pressure on us. Nobody’s expecting anything from us.’’
Nobody, that is, except themselves. And sometimes, that’s enough.
An epochal moment for Canadian track? Listening to those entrusted to make it, the possibility is there — really there — for the taking.
Run the way they’re capable of running and the doubters won’t have a choice but to stop running their mouths.
“I always tell these guys that it really isn’t about what other people are saying,” Gilbert said. “They know they’re good. They just have to get out there and run. There’s a lot of noise with media, they’re tweeting ...
“At the end of the day, though, if they just go out and do the job the respect will come.
“You can ask for respect but at the end of the day’’ — Gilbert cocked his head toward the inside of the Stadium, as a roar went up — “you’ve got to earn it in there.’’
Carry the day, carry the torch.