Ayre backs 4x400m team to make Olympics

Raymond Graham/Gleaner Writer

FORMER NATIONAL quarter-miler Sanjay Ayre believes Jamaica will have a 4x400-metre relay team at the Olympic Games in Paris, France next month.

Ayre, who competed in the 4x400 at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 and in Beijing in 2008, thinks the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) pulled off a master stroke in rescheduling the JAAA/PUMA National Junior and Senior Championships to facilitate an attempt at qualification.

Tonight at 8:05 p.m., the 4x400 team will take its third shot at qualification, seeking to go better than 2:59.12 minutes.

That time, done by Zambia, is the 16th best time in the world this year, and marks the final Olympic qualification spot after the Jamaicans failed to qualify twice at the World Relays in the Bahamas, and then recently at the New Life Invitational in the same country.

“It was a good incentive in tweaking the schedule to facilitate the guys in qualifying in the relays for the Olympics”, said Ayre, who was inside the National Stadium to witness the Championships.

“After seeing the semi-finals on Thursday and the final on Friday, I like what I saw from the guys and, with one fully rested day ahead of the relay, I am extremely confident that they will qualify,” continued Ayre.

He likes the idea that the JAAA will be giving the athletes a monetary incentive for hitting the qualifying mark.

“I like what the federation is doing by giving the athletes monetary incentive for the team to make the qualifying mark. They are not only doing it for the country, but also for themselves, and this will be a big motivational boost for them.”

Ayre has analysed the time the team needs to run, and broken it down into splits.

“We need a very good opening split, possiibly at least a mid-44 seconds. In the middle, we need at least a high 43 and low 44-second splits and, once this is done, it should be smooth sailing for the team,” said the former Olympian.

Proper planning

Back-tracking to the World Relays, Ayre thinks proper planning should have been in place to send the strongest team.

“I think the coaches and the athletes have to do a better job. The coaches should have made their athletes available for selection and it should not be a last-minute thing.”

“They needed to contact the federation from as early as January, and vice versa. It is not only the athletes with season’s best, as it should be a combination. I think those athletes with experience and who are good relay runners should be considered.”

“There must be early planning and, in the future, we cannot make the same mistake.

“Our best athletes were not at the World Relays. Except for Jamaica, all the other top countries, including the United States, ensured that their athletes competed at this World Relays.”

Ayre also had a word for athletes.

“It is always a pleasure for an athlete to represent one’s country and, as a former athlete, I am encouraging athletes to make themselves available to do so. It is an honour to represent your country, as your legacy lies here when you retire from the sport.”