Jereem Richards agonisingly 4th in Olympic men's 400m final

Jereem Richards ran his heart out but fell agonisingly short of a coveted Olympic podium spot after placing fourth in the men’s 400m final at the Stade de France in Paris on August 7.

Richards had a powerful start running out of lane nine, maintained good composure throughout the race and looked set to capture at least bronze in the final 50 metres.

But a late, race-changing surge from American Quincy Hall on the final straight, saw him bolt out of fourth, zoom past Richards, Zambian Muzala Samukonga and England’s Matthew Hudson-Smith, to steal gold in a personal best time of 43.40s.

Before Hall shifted gears, Richards was in third, behind eventual silver medallist Hudson-Smith, who clocked an area record of 43.44 seconds, and bronze medallist Samukonga, who also recorded a new national record of 43.74s.

Richards settled for a credible fourth place in a new national record, personal best and season’s best time of 43.78s, four hundredths of a second short of TT's first medal at the Paris Games. His result also made him the first TT athlete to run sub-44 seconds in this event.

He returns to the track on August 9 for the start of the men’s 4x400m relay qualifying alongside Renny Quow and Olympic debutants Shakeem Mc Kay, Jaden Marchan and Elijah Joseph (reserve).