Fourth spot has to be the most difficult placing for an athlete to deal with. Finishing just outside the medals is absolutely heart-wrenching. For Jamaica’s Janieve Russell, however, there was consolation in being part of a world record race.

Russell clocked a personal best 53.08 seconds to finish fourth in the Tokyo 2020 Women’s 400 metres hurdles final. The three women finishing ahead of her were on fire.

Sydney McLaughlin grabbed gold in a world record time of 51.46 seconds, forcing her fellow American Dalilah Muhammad to settle for silver in 51.58. Bronze medallist Femke Bol established a new European record, the Dutchwoman getting home in 52.03.

Jamaican Rasheed Dwyer and Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Men’s 200m final. Dwyer clocked 20.21 seconds, while Richards got to the line in 20.39.

Dwyer said that while he was happy to reach the Tokyo 2020 half-lap final, he could have done better in the championship race had he not been troubled by injuries.

“Injuries this year hampered my preparations for the Games. If I wasn’t hurt, I could have built a lot better.

“I’m not ending my season as yet,” Dwyer continued. “I’ll go on the circuit, see if I can win a couple races, and go under 20 seconds.”

Andre De Grasse captured the Men’s 200m title in 19.62 seconds – a new Canadian national record. Americans Kenny Bednarek (19.68) and Noah Lyles (19.74) earned silver and bronze, respectively.

Two global champions from the Caribbean made early exits from the Men’s javelin event. Grenada’s Anderson Peters, the 2019 World Championship gold medallist finished 15th in the qualifying competition with an 80.42 metres throw, while T&T’s 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott was 16th at 79.33. The top 12 throwers progressed to the final.

The region will have strong representation in tomorrow’s Women’s 400m final. The eight-woman line-up includes the reigning champion, Shaunae Miller-Uibo of Bahamas, Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino, Jamaicans Stephenie McPherson and Candice McLeod, and Cuba’s Roxana Gomez.

In the semi-final round, Paulino topped heat one in 49.38 seconds – a new national record. McLeod and Gomez were second and third, respectively, in personal best times of 49.51 and 49.71. Miller-Uibo won heat two in 49.60, ahead of Great Britain’s Jodie Williams (49.97) and Jamaican Roneisha McGregor (50.34). Guyana’s Aliyah Abrams (51.46) was seventh.

McPherson was the class of the heat three field, producing a personal best 49.34 seconds run for an easy win. American Allyson Felix was second in 49.89. Barbadian Sada Williams finished third in a national record time of 50.11.

Two Jamaicans were on show after press time, last night, in the Men’s 110m Hurdles final. Ronald Levy booked his lane in the championship race with victory in the opening semi-final in 13.23 seconds. Hansle Parchment also clocked 13.23 in finishing second to American Grant Holloway (13.13) in the third semi. Another Jamaican, Damion Thomas was third in the second semi in 13.39, and did not qualify.

Lindon Victor closed off day one of the Men’s decathlon in ninth spot with 4,293 points. The Grenadian clocked 10.67 seconds in the 100m dash, disturbed the sand at 7.24 metres in the long jump, threw 15.39m in the shot put, cleared 2.02m in the high jump and got home in 49.21 in the 400m.

Yorgelis Rodriguez’s bid for Women’s Heptathlon honours ended early. The Cuban was a non-finisher in the first discipline, the 100m hurdles.

T&T cyclist Nicholas Paul is into the 1/8 finals in the Men’s sprint. Paul clocked a fast 9.316 seconds to finish fourth in the Flying 200m, before going on to beat Australian Matthew Richardson and Malaysia’s Mohammed Awang in the early rounds of the Sprint. Another T&T cyclist, Kwesi Browne clocked a personal best 9.966 for 30th spot in the Flying 200. Browne did not qualify for the sprint.

Jair Tjon En Fa stopped the clock at 9.472 seconds to finish sixth in the Flying 200. The Surinamese cyclist lost to Germany’s Maximillian Levy in the opening round of the sprint, but re-entered the event via the repechage route. Tjon En Fa lost in the 1/16 finals to Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen and was defeated again in the repechage by Frenchman Sebastien Vigier, exiting the event for good.

Cuba secured gold medal number five, yesterday. Men’s light heavyweight boxer Arlen Lopez did the honours for the northern Caribbean island, outpointing Great Britain’s Benjamin Whittaker 4:1 in the final. Ahead of today’s Olympic action, Cuba were 13th on the standings with five gold medals, three silver and four bronze.