Athletics | 4x100m relay reaches final: “Teamwork”

(Saint-Denis) Led by Audrey Leduc who has never run so fast in her life, Canada qualified for the 4 X 100 m relay final at the Paris Olympic Games, Thursday morning, at the Stade de France.

Seventh when receiving the baton from Marie-Éloïse Leclair, the third relay runner, Leduc managed to overtake three competitors in the straight to cross the line in the seventh rung of the second semi-final wave.

A time of 42.51 seconds first appeared furtively on the giant screen. After reviewing the photo finish which stretched over a full minute, an official time of 42.50 was confirmed, spreading euphoria among the quartet completed by Sadé McCreath (1^D) and Jacqueline Madogo.

“It may have been long, but at the same time, we had a good race, it was not serious to have to wait,” Leduc told The Press. It’s also part of the Games, it builds up the emotion and makes for even more beautiful photos!”

Not only did the Canadians improve by a tenth the national record that dated from 2015 – to which Quebec’s Kimberly Hyacinthe had contributed – they secured their participation in Friday night’s final as the first of the two teams selected by time.

Audrey Leduc’s masterful performance caught the eye: her flying time of 10.04 seconds was the fastest ever recorded in Canadian history. Only one competitor has done better on this final straight in the first heat: American Sha’carri Richardson, individual silver medallist in the 100 m, who covered the distance in 9.99.

“It’s a team effort,” said the Gatineau sprinter, a semi-finalist in the 100 m and 200 m in Paris. “I’m happy to have brought the girls to do this, but without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

First to go, Ontario’s McCreath (11.65) handed the baton to Madogo (10.28) in fifth place. After a fluid first exchange, the francophone from Ottawa lost two places before passing the baton to Leclair, who was making her Games debut. The 21-year-old athlete now had her position in the curve before shouting “high!” to Leduc in the transition zone, a signal that her teammate should hold out her hand.

On the only occasion when the quartet was able to practice in this order in competition, in London on July 20, this third exchange did not work. Leduc left too early and was never able to touch the baton.

“In London, I would have had to shout ‘high’ several times,” Leclair smiled.

This time, despite the pressure, the Candiac athlete had no doubt that the transition would be smooth.

“I trust Audrey. I know she worked on the timing and trusting me with the brand. London is in the past. We learned a lot. I’m almost grateful that this race happened at this time and not here.”

In fact, after a single “high, bing!” the pole was in her hand. “I was able to ignore the noise around me,” Leclair continued. “It went well. I yelled as loud as I could so Audrey could hear me. I gave the pole away, and I knew it was in the hands of an excellent runner. I had no doubt it was going to be super good.”

The student at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia had the best “seat” to watch Leduc run away.

“It’s definitely impressive,” Leclair said. “It’s inspiring and motivating to have her on the team like we are. We know that if we put all our efforts into getting a good start to the race, it’s going to be exponentially better when Audrey gets the baton. It’s great to do this together.”

Leduc continued: “My goal is just to get the job done. When I took the baton, it was just to run as fast as I could and give it everything I had. That’s what I did.”

Seventh in Rio in 2016, their last participation in the Olympic Games, will the Canadians be able to improve the national mark in the final? “Certainly,” she said without a hundredth of a second of hesitation.

The United States (41.94) had the best time of the 16 competing countries, followed by Great Britain (42.03) and France (42.13). Canada recorded the seventh best time overall.

Despite a difficult third exchange between Brendan Rodney (who took the blame) and Andre De Grasse, the men’s team also advanced to Saturday night’s final by placing third in their heat. Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake covered the first two legs.