Just short
A SOBBING Jereem 'The Dream' Richards was inconsolable as he tried to put into words his bitter-sweet experience on the Stade de France track, here in Paris, yesterday.
'I feel happy,' Richards told the Express, between sobs, 'but I'm sad. I'm grateful to God because last year I wasn't able to compete as good as I wanted to...by the grace of God I was able to come back and run a personal best this season.'
In an Instagram post following the race, he said: 'I laid it all out on the track today. That is the best I had. That was all. That was everything.'
The time Richards produced in yesterday's Olympic Games men's 400 metres final was not just a personal best (PB), but a new national record, the blazing 43.78 seconds run erasing the 44.01 standard established by Machel Cedenio in the 2016 Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Like Cedenio, Richards finished fourth, the Trinidad and Tobago track star missing out on a podium finish by just four-hundredths of a second.
Drawn way out in lane nine, Richards was forced to throw down the gauntlet to his rivals.
He was superb through the first 300 metres, turning for home in a three- way battle for the lead with Briton Matthew Hudson-Smith and Grenadian Kirani James.
But American Quincy Hall produced the strongest finish to snatch gold from Hudson- Smith's grasp.
Hall clocked 43.40 seconds, with silver going to Hudson-Smith in a European record time of 43.44. A late surge from Muzala Samukonga earned him bronze in 43.74, the Zambian denying Richards his dream of climbing the Olympic podium.
After the race, Richards lay flat on the ground, reflecting on the missed opportunity.
'So close, so close was the thought,' said Richards. 'I can't be ungrateful, but to be so close, oh my God.'
With the 43.78 T&T record run, Richards is now 16th on the all-time 400m list.
'It's been a rough battle for me,' said a sniffling Richards, 'but I'm still thankful. I was able to break a national record, running out of lane nine. What hurt the most was that I was so close. To lose a medal on the line...it was very difficult to work so hard for all these years, and then to fall just short of a medal. It hurt and I'm disappointed, but at the same time God is good.
'I saw a message before I came here from all my friends and family back home wishing me good luck,' the Point Fortin sprinter continued. 'It made me feel warm inside, it made me feel I'm not out here alone; that I have people in my corner. I'm thankful for the people of Trinidad and Tobago for supporting me.'
Richards said the lane draw made his medal bid all the more challenging.
'There was nothing I could have done differently. It's definitely difficult running out of an outside lane. I knew I would have to execute the first part of the race because I would have been at a deficit on the third hundred. I had to put myself out there to come out the turn and hold on.'
The 43.78 scorcher produced by Richards at Paris 2024 would have been good enough for a medal in any other Olympic final in history.
In fact, the clocking would have resulted in gold at all but four previous Olympic finals.
'It was just disappointing to not get a medal. But at the same time, I'm grateful to God for running 43 seconds. I saw myself doing this years ago, and I actually did it here. Praise God.'
Yesterday's Olympic final was the first-ever one-lap race with five men under 44 seconds. James was fifth across the line in 43.87. The 2012 champion said that though he did not add to his haul of three Olympic medals, he was happy to be part of history.
'At the end of the day you have to give the guys credit for coming out and competing. And yeah, you just have to be grateful to be a part of this event and a part of this moment,' James told the Express.
Richards said he wants his performance in yesterday's championship race to have impact in T&T.
'I hope this encourages more people to support track and field and to send us out some more positive messages because the positive messages made me work even harder today. I saw all the positive things that people had to say and it gave me that motivation and that drive to go forward.
'But once again, I'm sorry I wasn't able to come home with a medal. A national record is a big deal, but I wish I had something to show for it. And today I didn't. It's a mix of emotions because I ran 43.7. This was one of the fastest races in history!'
Richards will now switch focus to the opening round of the 4x400m relay, scheduled for 5.05 a.m. tomorrow (T&T time).
'There are some young ones, Shakeem (McKay), Jaden Marchan. I have to be there for them. I have to come back and fight so I just want to take the time to feel how I have to feel, to be disappointed, to get that feeling of joy of accomplishment. I just added myself to the 19-second/43-second group. I have to transfer that energy towards the 4x4,' he said.
WINNER: Quincy Hall, of the United States, crosses the finish line ahead of Matthew Hudson-Smith, of Britain, right, and Jereem Richards, left, of Trinidad and Tobago, to win the men's 400 metres final, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, yesterday in Saint-Denis, France. -Photo: AP
with Kwame
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