Following the controversial exit of Nicholas Paul at the quarter-final stage of the the men’s cycling sprint at the Izu Velodrome, Japan, yesterday, Team Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) has given itself a final chance of earning a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic.Ê

Running out of Lane 3 in the first of two men’s 4×400 metres heats, Team TTO’s quartet of Deon Lendore, Jereem Richards, Machel Cedenio and Dwight St Hillaire finished third in a season’s best time of two minutes, 58.60 seconds to advance automatically to the final. The United States came home first in 2:57.77, followed by Botswana in 2:58.33.

In Heat 2, Poland took top spot with a season’s best 2:58.55, ahead of Jamaica (2:59.29) and Belgium (2:59.37).

The top three finishers from each heat advanced automatically to tomorrow’s final, along with Italy (2:58.91) and the Netherlands (2:59.06), who did so as the two ‘fastest losers’.

Having produced the fourth best time in qualifying, Team TTO now has a realistic chance of medalling, barring any unforeseen circumstance.

Team TTO also has Paul and Kwesi Browne competing in the Kierin event tomorrow. They both have a good chance of progressing to the final.