Olympics over for two Islanders

CBC News

Sprinter Jared Connaughton and his Canadian teammates placed sixth in the men's 4x100 metre relay at the Beijing Olympics, while pentathlete Kara Grant had to settle for a 31st-place finish.

'We've got some work to do, but this team will be back.'— Jared Connaughton

While the Canadian relay team set a seasonal best, it was well back of the winners from Jamaica.

"This would have been an opportunity to just open the steps up and really go for broke, and I think we were just a little bit conservative. And 38.66 in any other given day is a pretty good time, but not in an Olympic final," Connaughton, from P.E.I., told CBC News after the race.

"We've got some work to do, but this team will be back. I'm satisfied we're here, but you know, I'm not satisfied we're not on the podium."

Earlier this week, Connaughton reached the semi-finals in the 200-metre sprint. P.E.I.'s Grant placed 31st in the modern pentathalon with a score of 4,976.

"I have mixed feelings. Obviously, you know, it's great to be here in Beijing competing, and you know I've certainly proved over the years that I am part of a world-class field, but I definitely didn't perform the way that I'd hoped today so, definitely a little bit of disappointment there," Grant said.

This is Grant's second Olympics, and she said she hasn't decided whether she'll attempt to get to the next Games.

The other Canadian in the modern pentathlon, Monica Pinette, finished 27th.

Pentathaletes take part in five events in one day: shooting, fencing, swimming, show jumping and running.