By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE expectations were not that high for the women’s 4 x 400 metre relay at the 2020 Olympic Games, but it wasn’t anticipated that they would not complete the race on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan.

After getting the baton in eighth place from University of Georgia’s Megan Moss and out of contention to make up any significant ground on the rest of the field on the anchor, Anthonique Strachan stopped running after she completed the first 100m.

Doneisha Anderson, the 20-year-old student at the University of Florida, popped out for the Bahamas in lane two in a split of 52.6 seconds. However, she didn’t catch any competitors as she brought the baton into University of Houston’s Brianne Bethel. On her leg, Moss, the youngest member of the team at 19, managed to catch Australia before the exchange to Bethel in her split of 53.3.

Bethel, the 23-year-old Grand Bahamian, was caught before she got off the curve. She remained in eighth place in her split of 54.33 as she passed off to Strachan, the oldest member of the quartet at 27. Strachan completed just the first 100m on the anchor leg before she stopped running.

The team, which qualified at the Blue Marlins’ Last Chance Meet following the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ National Championships at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium, competed without Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who is preparing for the final of the women’s 400m and Larcathea Cooper, left at home because of COVID-19.

Poland clocked 3:23.19 and Cuba did 3:24.04, both season’s bests for first and second, while Belgium got a national record of 3:24.08 for the three automatic qualifying spots for Saturday’s grand finale.