‘We gave it our all’: Sage Watson settles for fourth place in women’s 4×400 relay at Tokyo Olympics
By RYAN MCCRACKEN on August 10, 2021.
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 WYLDErmccracken@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.”
