"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." - Elie Wiesel.

On Saturday night (morning here in T&T) at the Olympic Stadium in Japan, T&T's sporting exploits at the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was hit with another disappointment behind the news on Friday morning that two athletes and a coach were housed in isolations after receiving positive COVID-19 tests.

Michelle-Lee Ahye, after finishing third in the second semi-final of the women's 100 metres in a time of 11.00 seconds flat, a season-best, found herself out of the final after Great Britain athlete Daryll Neita, who finished fourth in the third semi-final with a similar time 11.00 seconds flat, got the nod for that final eighth position, over the T&T sprinter.

Qualification rules for the final read: "The First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final from the three semi-final Heats."

The official reason given regarding Ahye and Neita was that in the final analysis of the two times of the athletes, Neita actual time was 10.992 and Ahye's time was 10.993.

This assessment, a closer inspection of precision timing rules, suggests it should be used for competing athletes in the same race as Neita's race had a recorded wind factor designation of +0.3, while Ahye's race wind factor was -0.2.

T&T's Chef De Mission Lovie Santana, who is head of the delegation, and with assistance from track and field team manager George Comissiong lodged a protest seeking answers as to why Ahye was not included as they seek a proper hearing and justice done. However, they were given the run around for over two hours by those in charge of adjudicating the track and field competition.

According to a source who was at the competition venue who spoke to Guardian Media Sports on the condition of anonymity since the individual was not authorised to speak on the matter: "Ms Santana fought tooth and nail to get a hearing trying to get in contact with everyone who she knew could help in the matter. When she finally got a hearing, the race was done meaning that all her efforts were in vain."

What is more troubling, the source said was that the race took place with lane one empty.

That was very disappointing if the Olympics is all about fairness and participation then why run a lane empty while a protest is in progress, said the source, adding that under different circumstances: "No 100 metres race would have taken place until the protest was heard a fully adjudicated."

The source also highlighted that surprisingly, that the T&T Olympic Committee's (TTOC) effort was a solo affair as there were no one, no regional allies either to help T&T in its protest effort.

Meanwhile, Ahye, who won her first-round heat in 11.04, did not get the spot in the women's 100m final she was aiming for after finishing third in the semi-final run which was won by Marie-JosŽe Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast who clocked 10.79 from lane five, with Shericka Jackson of Jamaica second with the same time from lane six, and Ahye in 11:00 flat from lane four.

Neita of Great Britain also ran the same time while placing fourth in semifinal three from lane four, and the latter made it through to the final by one-thousandth of a second as the organisers deciding that Neita was .992 seconds quicker than T&T's Ahye's .993.

Women's 100m Semifinal Heat 1

Rank*Lane*Athlete*Country*Reaction*Time*Notes

1*4*Elaine Thompson Herah*Jamaica*0.157*10.76*Q

2*6*Ajla del Ponte*Switzerland*0.109*11.01*Q

3 7*Dina Asher-Smith*Great Britain*0.148*11.05

4*8*Jenna Prandini*United States*0.149*11.11*SB

5*2*Khamica Bingham*Canada*0.150*11.22

6*3*Tynia Gaither*Bahamas*0.130*11.31

7*9*Tatjana Pinto* Germany*0.163*11.35

- *5*Blessing Okagbare*Nigeria* - * - *DNS

Women's 100m Semifinal Heat 2

Rank*Lane*Athlete*Country*Reaction*Time*Notes

1*5*Marie-Josee Ta Lou*Ivory Coast*0.147*10.79*Q

2*6*Shericka Jackson*Jamaica*0.147*10.79*Q

3*4*Michelle-Lee Ahye* Trinidad and Tobago*0.132*11.00*SB

4*7*Alexandra Burghardt*Germany*0.151*11.07

5*9*Javianne Oliver* United States*0.166*11.08

6*2*Crystal Emmanuel*Canada*0.149*11.21

7*3*Ge Manqi*China*0.145*11.22

8*8*Asha Philip* Great Britain*0.134*11.30

Women's 100m Semifinal Heat 3

Rank*Lane*Athlete*Country*Reaction*Time*Notes

1*5*Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce*Jamaica*0.136*10.73*Q

2*7*Mujinga Kambundji*Switzerland*0.128*10.96*Q

3*6*Teahna Daniels*United States*0.144*10.98*q, PB

4*4*Daryll Neita*Great Britain*0.135*11.00*q

5*9*Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha*Nigeria*0.142*11.07

6*2*Gina Bass* The Gambia*0.140*11.16

7*8*Murielle AhourŽ* Ivory Coast*0.124*11.28

8*3*Anna Bongiorni* Italy*0.159*11.38

Women's 100m final

Rank*Lane*Athlete*Country*Reaction*Time*Notes

1*4*Elaine Thompson Herah*Jamaica*0.150*10.61*OR, PB - gold medallist

2*5*Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce*Jamaica*0.139*10.74 - silver medallist

3*7*Shericka Jackson*Jamaica*0.152*10.76*PB - bronze medallist

4*6*Marie-JosŽe Ta Lou* Ivory Coast*0.158*10.91

5*8*Ajla Del Ponte*Switzerland*0.129*10.97

6*9*Mujinga Kambundji*Switzerland*0.138*10.99

7*3*Teahna Daniels*United States*0.144*11.02

8*2*Daryll Neita*Great Britain*0.108*11.12