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| BVI’s Tahesia Harrigan, center, is flanked by Grenada’s Sherry Fletcher, right, and Jamaica’s Tracy-Ann Rowe, in the Pan am Games 100 meters. Photo: Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway |
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil—Tahesia Harrigan finished just outside the medals in fourth place, during last night’s 100 meter dash at the 15th Pan American Games being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her performance was the best showing by an athlete in an individual event, in the territory’s 24-year history of the games.
Harrigan had a time of 11.34 seconds, behind the United States’ Mikele Barber, who set a new meet record time of 11.02 seconds. Teammate Mechelle Lewis was second in 11.20 followed by the Bahamas’ Chandra Sturrup, who ran 11.29 to snatch bronze.
“We definitely thought we were medalist and competitive without a doubt, but we are disappointed in finishing fourth,” Harrigan’s personal coach Sidney Cartwright said. “She was in the position to win a medal, but in the last 30 meters of the race, we just pressed a little and as a result, she wasn’t able to carry the momentum that she had already accumulated. I think she lost it.”
Harrigan said she didn’t expect to get fourth. “I wanted to come out with a medal. It’s a little bit disappointing, but I’ll be OK,” she said. “Tonight, my start was good, I think my reaction was great but, really and truly, I could not feel what happened at the end. When I spoke to my coach, he said I basically started to press towards the last part of the race which caused me to decelerate a little bit faster than I would.”
Cartwright said Harrigan was in the medal hunt by 60-70 meters. “She was right in the mix of things. The medal was ours,” Cartwright stated. “But, I think she might have been worrying about Fletcher who was at her side and started pressing in the race rather than letting it come to her like she normally would do. Had she done that today, we would be celebrating a medal right now.”
Harrigan will depart for Europe on Thursday for competitions in Brussels and Greece, before completing her final training for the Aug 25-Sept. 2. IAAF World Championships. “Right now I know that I’m competitive and I can run with the best of them, but I just have to stay focused and relaxed at the end of the race and everything should work out,” Harrigan pointed out. “I need to get some training in, get my mind together and everything should be OK and I should be able to make it to the finals of the World Championships.”
