IN a last-ditch bid to qualify for the Paris Olympics, Eric Cray clocked a season-best tying time of 49.86 seconds to rule the men’s 400-meter hurdles of the Bahamas Junior and Senior National Track and Field Championships at the Thomas Robinson National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas last Saturday.
Eyeing an Olympic comeback after representing the country in the 2016 Rio Summer Games, Cray beat hometown bet Shakeem Hall Smith, who took runner-up honors in 1:00.19.
The race featured just three runners, with another Bahamian, Shimar Bain, pulling out after the preliminaries.
Cray, who matched his season best time in securing the bronze medal at the Mt. Sac Relays last April, is hoping his win and the points earned from the Nassau meet would boost him back into the top 40 at the close of the Olympic qualifying window yesterday.
With an entry standard of 48.79 seconds, only the top 40 runners in the event are eligible to compete in the event in Paris and Cray, a six-time Southeast Asian Games 400-meter hurdles king, was 47th in the rankings going into the Bahamian race.
“Just finished up my last meet. I won and got a season best 49.86 at the Bahamas Nationals but fell short of the standard. We had to run the heats and finals on the same day, and I gave it my all,” Cray said in a text message shortly after his performance.
