Back on track

The swagger has returned to the Canadian men's 4x100-metre relay team, for which anything less than medal in Delhi will be "unacceptable."

Last Updated: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 | 7:37 PM ET

By Chris Iorfida, CBC Sports

Sam Effah, seen racing for Canada at the 2009 world championships, set a personal best in the 100 metres this summer. (Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)

Charlottetown sprinter Jared Connaughton says it would be "unacceptable" for the Canadian 4 x 100 men's relay team not to reach the podium at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October.

That swagger is refreshing to hear from a Canadian athlete and especially one from the program still in a period of transition and far removed from the glory days of the mid-to-late 1990s, when Donovan Bailey won Olympic gold in the 100 metres and sparked a relay team that finished ahead of the previously dominant Americans on more than one occasion.

It would be one thing if Connaughton was delusional, but relay coach Glenroy Gilbert thinks the athletes he has to work with have the potential to combine to run close to 38 seconds flat over the 400 metres.

Gilbert, of course, was part of the great '90s relay team with Bailey, Bruny Surin and Robert Esme. 

"In my mind I think this group of guys can get to the podium," Gilbert told CBCSports.ca on Aug. 26. "It's not going to be easy by any means, but it never is."

Part of the reason for optimism is the emergence of Sam Effah over the past 18 months. The Calgary sprinter ran 10.06 earlier this season, a clocking surpassed by only three Canadian men before him.

Effah is slated to run the 100 in Delhi, while Connaughton is set to compete in the 200.

Connaughton and Effah are national champions at those distances and barring injury will also likely form half of the relay team, although Gilbert won't publicly guarantee anyone a spot. The two sprinters come from different backgrounds and parts of the country, and they took different paths to get to the national team.

Effah didn't run track in earnest until well into his teens, and he's been able to pursue his nascent dreams in Calgary. Connaughton knew his athletic calling earlier but had to pack his bags for Texas in order to develop as a world-class athlete.

Depending on health and performance coming out of a late September camp in Ottawa, the other sprinters in the mix for the relay team are Brian Barnett of Edmonton, Seyi Smith of Ottawa, Hank Palmer of Montreal and Michael LeBlanc of Riverview, N.B.

There is one word that keeps popping up when speaking about or to Effah: confidence. He feels it, and the others see it in him.

Effah couldn't crack the Beijing Olympic roster as a 19-year-old but has gained exposure over the past year in big international events, running alongside superstar and world record holder Usain Bolt and other top sprinters like Michael Frater and Michael Rodgers.

He's most often been given the opening leg assignment on the relay, helping Canada to a fifth in the final at the 2009 world championships in Berlin.

"Having a guy that can run 10-0 that starts well is a major asset on our team, probably something that we haven’t really had — a really solid guy that can open the floodgates for us," said Connaughton. "I think a lot of time in the past we’ve been dealing with coming from behind, and that’s tough to do all the time."

Connaughton and Effah have even competed against each other in sprints on occasion, but got to spend some time together away from the track when the Canada Games were held in P.E.I. in 2009.

“We both want it bad," said Effah. "Even though we have different backgrounds and we’re from different places, it works fine. We both know what we want, and we both know that we're going to get it.

"When it comes to relay we have all that one goal — to win together as a team."

Connaughton feels his technique hasn't been rewarded with the times he'd like this season in his individual races, although he finished second in Osaka in a season-best time of 20.61 seconds in May.

Jared Connaughton started the outdoor season strongly in Asia and is looking to finish the extended campaign on a high note. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

Gilbert said it's those types of ups and downs that will make Connaughton a stronger athlete in the long run, and which make the others look to the 25-year-old for leadership.

Spending so much time in Texas or around the globe competing, Connaughton certainly appreciates being part of the national team.

"I never forget where I’m from and it’s always an honour and privilege to run for Canada despite not being around as much as I’d like," he said.

The Commonwealth Games have been beset by organizational problems, and could be marked by humid conditions.

The greener Effah is less bothered than most athletes by the fact the event in India comes weeks after the end of the season.

And he believes the conditions could be not far off those in Miramar, Fla., in early July — when his 10.06 was good for gold in the North America, Central America and Caribbean under-23 championships.

The son of parents from the Commonwealth country of Ghana now wants a medal at a major global meet.

Need to succeed is a motivator

"I'm going to have a month to think about what I'm going to do for the one to four races I'll have, and that gets me excited," he told CBCSports.ca. "Now I'll have no excuse. I can be mentally prepared and physically ready and I have to lay it all on the track when I go [to Delhi]."

Gilbert would be unsurprised by this enthusiasm. The coach said Effah has a hunger and a need to succeed that's been lacking in most Canadian sprinters over the past decade or so.

But when it comes to the relay, hunger and speed aren't always enough. Technique is of enormous importance, and Canada found that out in a favourable way at the Beijing Games.

The U.S., Great Britain and Nigeria were among six countries that either botched the baton pass or committed lane violations. As a result, Connaughton and Palmer were part of a squad that made it to Canada's first Olympic final in the event since the glorious 1996 Games, finishing sixth.

A fourth-place relay showing in August at the Weltklasse in Switzerland behind the U.S., Jamaica and Great Britain sounds good on paper, but Gilbert and the team saw something else on the track.

"Zurich in my mind wasn't what I wanted to see from them," said Gilbert. "They ran good through two exchanges, but the last exchange just took way too long to happen."

The squad in Zurich was comprised of Effah, Smith, Connaughton and Barnett, the same foursome that finished fifth in the Berlin final.

The relay is an intermittent happening on the track calendar. Gilbert said the several days in Ottawa should help build up the trust factor and make for a more seamless run.

"We are at the point where mistakes — especially things that are within completely control of the athlete — we can't be too forgiving of that," he said. "We have to keep ourselves very, very much on edge to make sure we're doing things right. That's the only way we're going to be successful."

Gilbert has seen many, having appeared in four Olympics from 1988 to 2002, running in individual events and the relay and competing in the long jump. He was part of the gold medal relay team of the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, B.C.

While he said the depth isn't where it needs to be on the track, the Own the Podium and Road to Excellence initiatives have allowed for identifying athletes earlier and being able to keep them in Canada more often through high performance centres like the one Gilbert works out of in Ottawa.

As it pertains to the relay squad, the members of the team are no longer as disparate as in the early 2000s.

"Things are moving in the right direction certainly," said Gilbert. "But I explained to the athletes, they don't just award medals because you've been together for awhile.

"You have to go out there and earn it."