DESPITE being saddened and upset after having their 4x100m relay world record 42.58 seconds rejected by World Athletics because of a clerical error by drug testers, members of the Jamaican girls’ Under-20 team say they will use the setback to fuel another shot at the record.

The team of Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Brianna Lyston and Tia Clayton had set the record at the 49th CARIFTA Games inside the National Stadium on April 17, breaking the record 42.94 seconds that another Jamaican team had set at last year’s World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.

Cole, the lead-off runner, as well as Tina and Tia Clayton, told the Jamaica Observer on Friday they were “saddened” by the news but all vowed to make amends at August’s World Under-20 championships to be held in Cali, Colombia.

The record was not ratified by World Athletics as not all four athletes were drug tested by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO), who said they were following “guidelines set by World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) that athletes should not be tested more than once over a 24-hour period”.

Tina Clayton, who had won the Under-20 girls’ 100m the previous day and had undergone testing, was not tested after the relay. Alexander Williams, chairman of the JADCO board, has since acknowledged they should have tested all four runners, and said they would be carrying out investigation.

Corey Bennett, head coach of the Jamaican team that swept all eight relays and racked up a record 94 medals at the three-day championships, did not mince words as he said JADCO “has ripped our hearts out”.

“This is indeed a very sad day for track and field in Jamaica and indeed the world,” said Bennett, who coaches the Hydel High team. “It is totally inexcusable, unforgivable and embarrassing, to say the least. JADCO has robbed Jamaica of what is rightfully ours. JADCO needs to revisit their regulations and put it in line with what WADA accepts and expects. On April 17, 2022 four Under-20 young ladies brought so much joy to a nation and on May 31, 2022 JADCO has ripped our hearts out.”

Tia Clayton, who ran the anchor leg on both teams that had broken the records, told the Observer, “I feel very disappointed that we set a world record and it was taken away. I would not say cheated, as JADCO knows what to do.”

She said when she heard the news, “I was very upset because I said this should not have happened, this kind of mistake. But we brushed it off and say we have to go do it again… we all can learn from our mistakes and we will ask questions so next time this does not happen again.”

Cole said, “I am feeling a little bit sad about the record being taken away from us but things happen in life sometimes that we can’t take back, so we have to just go to [World Under-20] and do another great performance and get back our record.”

Cole added, “Something happened [with JADCO] and we hope that it will not happen to someone else.”

Tina Clayton said, “When I first heard the news I was sad, yes, and I was like, ‘Why is the record rejected?’ as I did not know the reason. But as time passed I got to understand that it was because all four of us were not tested.

“I know that we are going to come better and stronger. Things happen for a reason. Maybe this was a setback for all four of us on the team and we just have to come back better and stronger and get past this and we will learn from it and grow,” she said.