Trinidad and To­ba­go’s lead­ing in­ter­na­tion­al ath­lete, Jereem Richards, an­nounced his ar­rival at the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris, France, with a sen­sa­tion­al start and fin­ish in the men’s 400 me­ters first round, Heat 2, on a cool Sun­day night at the fa­mous Stade de France are­na. 

Richards fin­ished sec­ond in a time of 44.31 sec­onds (his sec­ond fastest time) be­hind two-time World Cham­pi­on Michael Nor­man of the USA, who won in 44.10 sec­onds with Bu­sang Collen Ke­bi­nat­shipi, Botswana, third in 44.45 sec­onds, and he al­so qual­i­fied for the se­mi-fi­nals as the top-three for the heat.

“I did not think the race was so quick. I thought it was clos­er to 45, but okay. I knew what to do af­ter the Di­a­mond League race on the out­side, so I set off to get a good start and reach the se­mi-fi­nals, so job done,“ a clear­ly con­tend­ed Richards told Guardian Me­dia Sports af­ter the race. 

He said, “I do not care about time; all I want is a medal. Time comes and goes, but a medal lasts, so my aim is all about that. I know I have a day to rest, so I eased down.” 

“But if you ask me if I be­lieve I have sub 44 in me, I would say yes, but once I reach the fi­nals and get that medal, that is all I want. I will check the time af­ter,” not­ed Richards. 

In­deed, as women’s 100-me­ter gold medal­list Julien Al­fred was pass­ing af­ter the medal cer­e­mo­ny, Richards took time to ex­tend con­grat­u­la­tions to her and ex­am­ine her gold medal. He said af­ter, “I want­ed to feel that en­er­gy, and I felt some­thing when I touched it, and I am go­ing to give the 400-me­ter race my all, and I told her what her medal meant to the re­gion, not on­ly St Lu­cia.”

Al­fred, sport­ing a win­ning smile, told Guardian Me­dia Sports,. “He is next, Jereem; he is next for a medal.” 

Richards, a na­tive of Point Fortin, though, be­lieves that there is one area of his race that he has to im­prove. “That last 30 me­ters has to be bet­ter, but I have found that the more I run, the bet­ter I get at this, and giv­en my times, I made up my mind that this is it for me, so I am go­ing for that on Tues­day.” 

“It is all about get­ting some rest, work­ing on cer­tain ar­eas, and just con­tin­u­ing to see the end of a medal. I just want one,” de­clared Richards. 

He ex­plained, “My wife, daugh­ter, and moth­er are up here to sup­port me; I have not been able to see them yet, but I know they are here, and when you add the oth­ers, my aunts, my sis­ter, and the strong parts—all of my fam­i­ly sup­port—I am al­ways well blessed with their sup­port and love. I am al­so aware that all of T&T is sup­port­ing us in every event.”

Men’s 400 me­tres Heat 2 Re­sults

1. Michael Nor­man, Unit­ed States, 44.10 (Q).

2. Jereem Richards, Trinidad and To­ba­go, 44.31 (Q).

3. Bu­sang Collen Ke­bi­nat­shipi, Botswana, 44.45 (Q).

4. Am­mar Is­mail Yahia Ibrahim, Qatar, 44.66 (Re).

5. Sean Bai­ley, Ja­maica, 44.68 (Re).

6. At­ti­la Mol­nar, Hun­gary, 45.24 (Re).

7. An­tho­ny Jose Zam­bra­no, Colom­bia, 45.49 (Re).

8. Michael Joseph, Saint Lu­cia, 45.69 (Re). ,