Glenroy Gilbert, Canada's relay coach, hopes team can break unlucky streak

Former sprinter Glenroy Gilbert knows first-hand that when 16 large men are travelling through a small space at top speed, there is bound to be trouble.

And Canada has certainly had its fair share lately.

Canada's men's 4x100-metre relay team has seemingly been disqualified in more races than not over the past few years, and it's a trend Gilbert would like to see end at the world championships Saturday.

"It's a difficult event," said Canada's relay coach. "These are big guys and these lanes are 48 inches wide, and you're trying to pass a stick with guys running at pretty high velocities in a 20-metre box. It's not easy, technically you have to be very sound.

"And if you're trying to win, you really have to push the exchange zones. And by pushing them however, you can push them a bit too much and run into error."

The Canadians seemingly had bronze in their hands at the 2012 London Olympics, but jubilation quickly turned to heartbreak when they were disqualified for a lane violation — Jared Connaughton had stepped on the inside line.

String of recent disqualifications

Since then, Canada was DQ'd at last summer's Commonwealth Games and the IAAF World Relays earlier this year — both for violations in the exchange zone. Then at last month's Pan Am Games in Toronto, the Canadians were draped in the Maple Leaf, already celebrating their victory when three countries launched a joint protest. Gavin Smellie had stepped on the line. Canada was DQ'd again.

"They're humans, even though they've done it time and time again, mistakes happen," Gilbert said. "You try to get around the corner in a shorter distance, but you don't realize how close you are."

Gilbert pointed out the rules weren't as strict when he competed — a runner had to step on the line three consecutive times to be disqualified.

Gilbert, now a fit-looking 46, was part of Canada's relay glory days that included two world titles and an Olympic gold medal. The time of 37.69 seconds that Gilbert, Donovan Bailey, Bruny Surin and Robert Esmie recorded in winning the 1996 Atlanta Olympics still stands as the Canadian record.

"I tell the [current] guys all the time, for me personally, I'd love nothing better than to see them run as fast as we did, or faster," Gilbert said. "Are they capable? For sure they're capable. But I also told them: you've got to go out there and not make mistakes."

Young talent shows potential

Canada's pool of relay runners includes: Andre De Grasse, who's coming off a remarkable bronze-medal performance in the 100 metres, Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney, Gavin Smellie, Akeem Haynes and Justyn Warner.

Gilbert said the team has the potential to win a medal. Canada ran a clean race at the world championships two years ago to capture bronze.

"Certainly if you look at the numbers and you look at the bodies, and speed of each of these guys, for sure," he said.

The key, of course, is running clean. In what's become almost a game within a game, countries will look for violations. The runners cross the line, and teams have 30 minutes to launch a protest.

"It's disappointing and I've said this to the guys, especially after Pan Ams, that that's really what it has come to," Gilbert said. "You have to run a clean race, because really the ruling on the track doesn't count for anything.

"Ultimately if there are other countries and they've got their iPads out, and they're looking at each zone, and they're looking for infractions so they can take it to an appeal jury afterward. So we have to run clean and we have to run fast."