Canada's Maddy Price (left), Alicia Brown, Kyra Constantine and Sage Watson (right) wait for their results in the women's 4 x 400m relay race heat at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. -- CP PHOTO ADRIAN WYLDE
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Seven Persons sprinter Sage Watson put everything she had into the women’s 4×400-metre relay on Saturday at the Tokyo Olympics, but fell just shy of reaching the podium with a fourth-place finish.
Watson – serving as Canada’s anchor – held third place when she took the baton from teammate Kyra Constantine, however Jamaica’s Candice McLeod managed to close the gap in the home stretch and bested Canada by six-tenths of a second.
“We gave it our all,” Watson posted on Instagram following the race. “I am so proud of these women. We went for it and it hurts to fall short, I wanted this so bad and it’s heartbreaking to come 4th but coming so close to the Canadian record and a medal is amazing. We will keep fighting, thank you everyone for all the support.”
Canada’s time of 3:21.84 was just over six-tenths off the national record of 3:21.21.
The United States won gold with a time of 3:16.85 – nearly four seconds ahead of silver-medallist Poland (3:20.53). Jamaica rounded out the podium with their time of 3:21.24.
Watson and her Canadian team of Madeline Price, Alicia Brown and Kyra Constantine narrowly reached the 4×400 final after placing fifth in a dramatically-tight semifinal heat.
Watson missed out on the women’s 400-metre hurdles final after settling for fifth in the semis with a time of 55.51.
The fourth-place relay finish is Watson’s second in a row after narrowly missing out on a medal at the Rio Games in 2016. However, this year’s squad shaved nearly five seconds off their 2016 time of 3:26.43. Their Tokyo time of 3:21.84 would have been good enough for bronze in Rio.
Watson took to Instagram for a few more posts while in Tokyo, first taking the time to thank everyone involved in making the Olympics a success, then adding a wrap-up post from the closing ceremony.
“So grateful to walk in my second Olympic closing ceremonies, especially with my 4×4 girls. What a great way to wrap up the games,” Watson posted. “I have more moments and memories to share but now I have 24 (hours) of travel to reflect on this experience.”
