by Larry EderIt happens, but not often. The US was beaten in the men’s 4 x 400 meters. Bahamas ran a great race and in the end, outlasted Angelo Taylor as Ramon Miller went by Angelo, giving Bahamas their first gold in the mens’ 4x400m relay and a national record of 2:56.72. The US ran 2:57.02.
McQuay to Taylor, London 2012 4 x 400m,
photo by PhotoRun.net
It was nearly the end times, as in the men’s 400 meters, no US runner made the final, besides 1980, it had not happened since, oh, 1896!
A very good US team, considering LaShawn Merritt and Jeremy Wariner, Olympic champs in 2004 and 2008, with hamstring injuries. I might suggest in future, we consider the likes of Christian Taylor (45.04), Nick Symmonds or Duane Solomon and yes, Micheal Tinsley for the 400 meter relay pool.
The Bahamas team did it right. They moved their team around and they wanted it bad. Angelo was tired after three 400m hurdles rounds, but he would take a brick wall for his team mates.
It was a fun race to watch, and yes, it is okay when other countries win, but damn, the 4 x 400 meter relay? Please do not let that happen again, guys!
10 August 2012 – 21:20
| Position | Lane | Bib | Team | Country | Mark | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Bahamas (Chris Brown; Demetrius Pinder; Michael Mathieu; Ramon Miller) | BAH | 2:56.72 | (NR) | |
| 2 | 7 | United States (Bryshon Nellum; Joshua Mance; Tony McQuay; Angelo Taylor) | USA | 2:57.05 | (SB) | |
| 3 | 4 | Trinidad and Tobago (Lalonde Gordon; Jarrin Solomon; Ade Alleyne-Forte; Deon Lendore) | TRI | 2:59.40 | (NR) | |
| 4 | 5 | Great Britain & N.I. (Conrad Williams; Jack Green; David Greene; Martyn Rooney) | GBR | 2:59.53 | (SB) | |
| 5 | 2 | Russia (Maksim Dyldin; Denis Alekseyev; Vladimir Krasnov; Pavel Trenikhin) | RUS | 3:00.09 | . | |
| 6 | 8 | Belgium (Kévin Borlée; Antoine Gillet; Jonathan Borlée; Michaël Bultheel) | BEL | 3:01.83 | . | |
| 7 | 3 | Venezuela (Arturo RamÃrez; Alberto Aguilar; Albert Bravo; Omar Longart) | VEN | 3:02.18 | . | |
| 8 | 1 | South Africa (Shaun de Jager; Willem de Beer; L.J. van Zyl; Oscar Pistorius) | RSA | 3:03.46 | (SB) | |
| . | 9 | Cuba (William Collazo; Raidel Acea; Noel RuÃz; Omar Cisneros) | CUB | DNF | . |
| Team | Nation | Reaction Time |
|---|---|---|
| Bahamas | BAH | 0.163 |
| United States | USA | 0.181 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | TRI | 0.231 |
| Great Britain & N.I. | GBR | 0.167 |
| Russia | RUS | 0.191 |
| Belgium | BEL | 0.165 |
| Venezuela | VEN | 0.174 |
| South Africa | RSA | 0.185 |
| Cuba | CUB | 0.163 |
