By Elton Tucker, Assistant Sport Editor
Lorraine Graham-Fenton (right) of Jamaica embraces teammate Sandie Richards after they won gold in the women's 4x400 metres final at the World Athletics Championships, in Edmonton yesterday. The team won gold with a time of three minutes, 20.65 seconds. - Reuters
EDMONTON, Canada:
JAMAICA PRODUCED a glittering display on the final afternoon of the eighth IAAF World Athletics Championships in Edmonton yesterday to win the gold medal in the women's 4x400 metres in a national record three minutes 20.65 seconds.
The quartet of Sandie Richards, Catherine Scott, Debbie-Ann Parris and Lorraine Graham-Fenton celebrated the victory with a lap of honour around the Commonwealth Stadium draped in a large Jamaican flag.
They received huge cheers from a section of the stands where Jamaicans living in Edmonton had gathered.
Earlier the men's 4x400m team also won bronze as Jamaica ended the 10-day meet, the first world championships to be held in North America, with five medals -- a gold, two silver and two bronze.
A bad mistake by the United States ensured an easy victory for Jamaica. Jamaica-born American Suziann Reid, a native of Harbour View, dropped the baton at the final changeover. The United States were then almost three metres ahead.
Veteran senior national campaigner Richards, who has been running the individual 400m and the 4x400m at the World Championships since 1987, felt Jamaica would have won anyway.
"I think Lorraine (Graham-Fenton) would have caught her (Reid) as she appeared very nervous. She made a bad mistake switching the baton from one hand to the other. Your palm is sweating at that time and the baton can be very slippery. However, we were not that far behind and Lorraine is in better shape than Suzie (Reid) at the moment," Richards said.
She added that the key to victory was the many choices Jamaica had and the fact that they could bring in Graham-Fenton and Parris for the final after Deon Hemmings and Michelle Burgher had run in the heats.
"If we did not have Lorraine we would have been struggling from the back as I would have been called on to do the anchor leg. But we wanted to win and we switched around runners. I have a muscle injury and I was determined to 'pull it up' in order to achieve the gold," Richards said.
The United States were in front for the first three legs with Jearl Miles-Clark, a former world 400 metres champion leading off. Richards, then Scott and Parris kept Jamaica in the hunt however and the pressure paid off in the end.
Germany won the silver medal in 3.21.97 while bronze went to Russia in 3.24.92. The Americans ended up fourth in 3.26.88.
The men shared some of the final day glory with Brandon Simpson, Chris Williams, Gregory Haughton and Danny McFarlane earning Jamaica's fourth 4x400m bronze at the World Championships following third place finishes in 1991, 1997 and 1999. They won silver in 1995. Haughton said the loss of Michael McDonald through injury weakened the team.
"With McDonald out it put additional burden on us coming out of lane one. We ran as well as we could and fortunately we got a medal," Haughton said.
McFarlane, who got the baton in second spot on the final leg, felt he ran a bad race. "I was too anxious to beat the USA and I just used up too much energy trying to get into position on the first 100m. I should have run my own race, get out for the first 50m, relax and then travel. The fast first 100m really hurt in the last 20 metres," McFarlane said.
The Americans, with 400m hurdler Angelo Taylor on the anchor leg, won in a world leading 2.57.54. The Bahamas were second in a national record 2.58.19 with Jamaica next in a season best 2.58.39.
Graham-Fenton (gold and silver), Chris Williams (silver and bronze) and Haughton (two bronze) all ended the meet as double medal winners following visits to the podium in their individual events.
The last two individual event on the track yesterday proved to be very exciting. In the women's 800 metres final Maria de Lourdes Mutola came with a devastating late run to catch and beat her archrival, Stephanie Graf of Austria, on the winning line.
Mutola's time was 1.57.17 with Graf just behind in 1.57.20. Letitia Vriesde of Suriname won the bronze medal in 1.57.35.
World record holder Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco ran a brilliant race to take gold in the 1500m in 3.30.68. El Guerrouj had time to blow kisses to the crowd before crossing the finish line. He then used a finger to sign his name on the track. The silver went to Kenya's Bernard Lagat in 3.31.10 while an overjoyed Driss Maazouzi of France pocketed bronze in 3.31.54.
