BERLIN—Sprinter Richard Thompson has said that T&T’s silver medal in the men’s 4x100 metres relay at the World Championships is like a victory, especially after the team was forced to battle a spate of injuries in recent months. T&T clocked a swift 37.62 seconds, a new national record, as they finished behind heavy favourites Jamaica, who posted a blistering 37.31 seconds to win the event in a new championship record. “The truth is, Darrel (Brown) just came off a major injury, he had surgery just last year and then he was able to come back this year and run really well,” said Thompson, who ran the anchor leg.

“Marc Burns had a setback this year and I was in a car accident in January. This is when it all came together and we still feel as though we weren’t 100 per cent based on where we could be, so next year we hope to get stronger and run even faster.” T&T challenged the mighty Jamaicans over the early stages of the event and it took a strong third leg from double sprint champion Usain Bolt to give Jamaica the edge. Asafa Powell then powered down the stretch, with Thompson in pursuit, to win handsomely and add the World Championship title to the one they won at the Beijing Olympics last year.

“We’re pleased with the run, the third fastest time ever run by a nation. You look at the teams to run faster—USA with Carl Lewis and obviously Jamaica with Usain and Asafa, the greats—so for us to go in there and run 37.6 and break the national record and finish second to Jamaica is a huge accomplishment for us,” said Thompson. “Darrell Brown got out really well and it just kept flowing from there. The truth is the Jamaican team were better speed-wise, leg-for-leg and we knew once they got their stick around it would be hard for anyone else to match them…We are very satisfied with the national record.” The sprint replay medal was the second for T&T in the last year, after they also claimed silver at the Olympics last year in setting a new national record of 38.06 seconds.