Relay too cautious, slow 4 X 100 podium hope doesn't pan out By Steve Simmons, SUN MEDIA

BEIJING - Too cautious. Too slow. In the end, too far behind.

That was the story for an optimistic Canadian men’s 4x100-metre relay team, believing they should have been on the podium here Friday but coming nowhere close.

“We were tight,” said Jared Connaughton of PEI. “Way too tight. This is the Olympic final. We went out there with an air of caution. We should have went out there and gone for broke.

“Instead, we had our steps too short and we got ate up. We’re running beside Japan and we’re faster than them. That doesn’t make any sense to me. That’s our fault for not trusting each other.

Hank (Palmer) ran up on Anson (Henry). Anson ran up on me, I ran up on Pierre (Browne). You can’t do that. It’s not the NCAA’s. This is the Olympics.”

The Jamaican team, led by the amazing Usain Bolt, won the 4x100 metres in world record time: For Bolt the event marked three Olympic gold medals and three world records.

But for the Canadians, who believed they had a shot at a medal after the Americans failed to qualify for the final, ended up sixth.

“I’m disappointed we’re not on the podium,” said Browne. “I really don’t understand why we’re not on the podium.

“For me, what’s it worth? It’s the Olympic Games. The finals. You can’t sit back the way we did.”

The Canadian team of Palmer, Henry, Browne and Connaughton finished the race in a season’s best time of 38.66 but well behind the Jamaican record holders, who ran in 37.10.

It would have taken a time of 38.10 for the Canadians to reach the podium.

“I saw that time and I know we’re capable of that,” said Browne. “That’s what makes this so disappointing.”