AN OLYMPIC REDEMPTION
A year after being disqualified, 4x100 relay team wins bronze in Canada’s best-ever showing at world championships,
MOSCOW— Gavin Smellie, Aaron Brown, Dontae Richards-Kwok and Justyn Warner, members the Canadian men’s 4x100 relay team, had been waiting on the track for five minutes, six minutes, seven despondent minutes until finally, ready to accept their crushing fourth-place finish in the world championships final, they headed toward the bowels of Luzhniki Stadium.
There was the silent walk through the mixed zone, the forehead rubbing and head shaking, the astonished, “What the heck just happened?” looks as the sprinters talked to a couple of reporters, wondering if indeed the British team had committed an exchange zone violation and stood to be disqualified. Then they disappeared into a back room. Then, five minutes later, the hysterical whooping started. Then, two minutes after that, Warner, already dressed for the shuttle back to the hotel, bolted through the corridors toward the track, his teammates in tow. And two minutes after that, the foursome stood on the podium, chomping down on bronze in place of the disqualified British squad.
The looks on their faces a peculiar combination of ecstasy and disbelief, the relay team, three of whom hail from Toronto, accepted the Canada’s fifth medal of these championships — a record at the worlds — to go along with bronzes in the decathlon, men’s shot put and high jump, and silver in heptathlon.
“I’m just overwhelmed,” Warner said after the ceremony. “We did it, we put all our hard work together and pulled together. Canada’s once again one of the top teams, that’s it.”
Canada, which ran a season-best 37.92 seconds, was joined on the podium by the champion Jamaicans, led by Usain Bolt, and the United States, which won silver. Jamaica clocked 37.36 and the Americans 37.66 after anchor Justin Gatlin stumbled on the baton transfer.
If the drama of the late victory wasn’t emotional enough, it was undoubtedly ramped up by an obvious sense the medal brings redemption for the 4x100 team’s heartbreaking disqualification at the London Olympics last year. In that final, Jared Connaughton stepped out of his lane on the third leg, ruining what would have been a bronze medal-winning relay.
“It’s the exact opposite of what happened last year when they found out they were DQed,” said Brown, who along with Richards-Kwok replaced the injured Connaughton and Oluseyi Smith on the Moscow team.
“That was a terrible moment. This is probably the best moment we could ask for. We belonged there last year and we belong here this year.”
According to Athletics Canada, the baton transfer between second-leg Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and third-leg James Ellington occurred outside the designated exchange zone. After reviewing a replay, Canada immediately launched an appeal.
“Great Britain also saw the video and didn’t protest the decision,” Athletics Canada spokesman Mathieu Gentès told the Star in an email.
Warner was the face of Canada’s devastation in 2012, captured wiping away tears in an image that came to represent the country’s disappointing one-medal performance in London track and field. The 26-year-old said he felt for the British squad — even hoping it wouldn’t get awkward on the hotel floor they shared — but reiterated several times that “rules are rules.”
With a medal on the line, especially a bronze as historic as the one Canada won Sunday, sympathy can be fleeting.
“We got it taken away from us last year,” Brown said. “So to end the championships on that note with a 4x100 medal, you can’t ask for anything better.”