PARIS, France — Jamaica’s hopes of improving an indifferent recent record in mixed relays were largely washed away in the pouring Paris rain as the nation’s quartet could only manage fifth place in the final of the 4x400m mixed relay event.

The heavens had opened over an hour before Reheem Hayles, Junelle Bromfield, Zandrion Barnes, and Stephenie Ann McPherson took to the soaked Stade de France track.

And, as Rajindra Campbell and Shanieka Ricketts were busy tying up Jamaica’s first medals at Paris 2024 elsewhere in the stadium, the four quarter-milers gave it their all but fell adrift of numerous other countries, led by the United States of America who had qualified in an emphatic world record time 24 hours earlier.

Drawn on the inside of all the other competitors Hayles, fourth at the Jamaican trials and representing his country for the first time, struggled to make much impression during a 45.50-second opening leg, handing over to Bromfield in seventh place.

Bromfield, also an Olympic debutant in individual competition, ran hard but could not climb the leader board despite clocking a 51-second second circuit on the rain-lashed track.

Barnes was unable to make any more of an impression on the opposition despite a quickest 400-metre split of 45.10, before McPherson — the most experienced of the team — battled through the worst of the weather to better the final position and bring the baton home initially in sixth place.

This was later amended as the Caribbean’s only representatives in the eight-team final were promoted to fifth by the disqualification of the French quartet for an obstruction in the take-over zone — to the dismay of the home crowd.

McPherson, the former individual bronze medallist at the outdoor and indoor World Athletics Championships, was timed at 50.07, which hoisted the country’s final position.

“I got the baton and before I left for the track, my coach told me of the best way to run the relay and I felt I did a pretty good job,” she said, still dripping with water. “But when I reached the last 100m I couldn’t see anything because the rain was in my eyes — I was running blind.

“I would have loved to have won a medal but to reach the final was important in itself. Everybody did their best but it wasn’t to be tonight, although anything is possible in relays.”

The Jamaican team was timed at 3:11.67 minutes — over half a second shy of the previous day’s national record qualification time.

The Netherlands stormed through in the closing stages, courtesy of 400m hurdles specialist Fenke Bol, to claim victory in a European record 3:07.43 for an event which was only introduced on the global stage in 2017.

Jamaica’s best outcome in this event came at the Doha World Championships two years later in 2019 when Nathon Allen, Roneisha McGregor, Tiffany James, and Javon Francis took silver.