Dwight St Hillaire’s World Athletics Championship men’s 400 metres campaign ended early, the Trinidad and Tobago quartermiler bowing out of the event in the first round here in Eugene, Oregon, USA, yesterday.

Running in heat four, St Hillaire was solid in the first 200 metres, but faded badly in the second half of the race and had to settle for sixth spot in 46.60 seconds. American Champion Allison won in 45.56. The two other automatic semi-final berths on offer in heat four went to Belgian Dylan Borlee (45.70) and Botswana’s Isaac Makwala (45.93).

Makwala’s teammate, Bayapo Ndori topped heat five in 44.87 seconds to emerge as the fastest of the 24 qualifiers. South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk was second fastest at 45.18. St Hillaire finished 33rd overall.

“My body just didn’t respond when they responded,” St Hillaire told the Express. “The first 200 was good, but off the turn I just didn’t respond. It’s something to look at, something to fix and get better for the future. I would have to look at the film, talk to my personal coach, conceptualise what happened.”

From Oregon, St Hillaire will travel to Birmingham, England for the Commonwealth Games. But before he crosses the Atlantic, the Belle Garden, Tobago athlete has one more assignment at Oregon22–the 4x400m relay.

St Hillaire suffered a hamstring injury during the Olympic 4×4 final in Tokyo, Japan, last August, but battled on, ensuring he got the baton to anchorman Machel Cedenio. T&T finished eighth. After the race, Deon Lendore praised St Hillaire for his selfless heroics. Five months later, Lendore died in a vehicular accident in Texas, USA.

St Hillaire is very motivated to honour Lendore with a successful 4×4 campaign here in Eugene. “It is unfortunate that he passed. The influence Deon had on the team was very big, and will be missed. He was my biggest role model in the 400. He was one of my biggest and personal fans. He was always in my corner, giving me tips and what not, so I’ve learned a lot from him. I’m just taking what I learned and applying it to be as great as Deon on the track.

“The number one goal in the 4×4 is to always win,” St Hillaire declared, “and to qualify for the final. I believe we can qualify. I’ve talked to the boys. They’re all fit, they’re all eager to run, they’re all eager to fill those spots. They might be a little younger, but I believe in them.”

The men’s 4×4 qualifying round takes place on Saturday. The final will be contested on Sunday. The T&T quartet for Saturday’s race will be chosen from St Hillaire, Jereem “The Dream” Richards, Asa Guevara, Shakeem McKay, Kashief King and Jerod Elcock.

After press time, last night, T&T sprint star Michelle-Lee Ahye competed in the semi-final round of the women’s 100m. The T&T sprinter ran in heat three, and needed a top-two finish for a guaranteed spot in the final, which was contested at 10.50 last night.

Richards faces the starter at 8.12 tonight (T&T time) in the second of seven men’s 200m first round heats. The 2017 World Championship half-lap bronze medallist has been drawn in lane three, while his toughest rival in the race, Canadian Aaron Brown will run in lane five.

Richards, who clocked a personal best 19.83 seconds at last month’s NGC/NAAATT National Open Championships, should have no problems finishing in the top three and securing an automatic berth in tomorrow’s semis.

At 8.47, Richards’ T&T teammate, Eric Harrison will be on show in lane eight in heat seven. American Noah Lyles, the reigning world champion, runs in lane three.