IS MEN DISQUALIFIED FROM 4X100 RELAY AFTER BOTCHED HANDOVER

USA TODAY Sports 

SAINT-DENIS, France – The 4x100 relay Olympic medal drought continues for the U.S. men, who were disqualified after crossing the finish line in seventh place on Friday.

Canada finished first at 37.50, South Africa took second, running a 37.57 and Great Britain crossed the line at 37.61 to take bronze.

Marred by botched handoffs at previous Olympics, Team USA allowed the issue to rear its ugly head again in Paris.

The team — Christian Coleman, Kenny Bednarek, Kyree King and Fred Kerley — bungled the handoff between Coleman and Bednarek. The exchange was late and Bednarek had to nearly stop completely to accept the baton. By the time he received it, the U.S. team was out of position.

The team was later disqualified for running out of the zone because Coleman passed the baton outside of the handoff zone.

"Obviously we all are going to be hard on ourselves. And track and field is an individual sport so we do our own thing in sprinting. So when we come together as a team, that's the fun part of it. Obviously, it's a little disappointing, especially for America, because we wanted to do it, we wanted to bring it home, we knew we had the speed to do it," Coleman told reporters. "It just didn't happen, but we're human beings too. We've been through ups and downs in life. This is another one of those times where we've got to just keep our heads down and keep pushing."

Regardless of the runners making up the U.S. men's team, it has notoriously struggled with baton exchanges at the Olympics.

The U.S. have now had 11 dropped batons, disqualifications or bans in the Olympics and World Championships since 1995, according to Reuters. The team hasn't medaled in the 4x100 relay since taking silver at the 2004 Athens Games. The team’s last gold medal was at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Prior to this series of failures, Team USA won this event 15 times — 13 more times than any other nation.

Track and field legend Carl Lewis, who won nine Olympic gold medals, called for a complete overhaul of the program after the disqualification.

"It's time to blow up the system," Lewis posted from his X account. "It is clear that EVERYONE at (USA Track & Field) is more concerned with relationships than winning. No athlete should step on the track and run another relay until this program is changed from top to bottom."

U.S. track star Noah Lyles, who won gold in the 100-meter dash and then contracted COVID-19 on Tuesday, did not take part in the men’s relay final because of his illness. But with a stable of other capable sprinters, the U.S. shouldn't have needed Lyles to medal if the handoffs were clean.

"All of us are world class, and I expect all of us will be back on the team in LA," Coleman said. "I think on home soil, we'll be able to have the confidence to bring it on home."

- Tyler Dragon 

CHRISTIAN HORNER POINTS OUT MERCEDES 'MISTAKE' AFTER GEORGE RUSSELL DISQUALIFICATION

Christian Horner reacts to George Russell's disqualification from the Belgian GP.

George Russell’s second win of the 2024 season has been taken away, with the Mercedes driver disqualified for returning an underweight car to parc fermé.

Russell’s disqualification has bumped both Red Bull drivers up in the points standings — and Christian Horner, Red Bull team boss, offered his perspective on Mercedes’ crucial mistake at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Christian Horner: Mercedes made ‘a mistake in their calculations’

George Russell has spent years trying to turn a one-stop strategy into a Grand Prix win, and it appeared as if the Mercedes driver had finally pulled it off when he crossed the finish line first at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Unfortunately for Russell, his car was found to be underweight by a mere 1.5 kg. A minute difference — but a massive one in Formula 1, where every milligram of weight matters when trying to find a performance advantage.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was asked if he believed Russell’s one-stop strategy actually contributed to his car’s weight discrepancy after the race.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Horner replied.

“I’m sure that you’d have lost well over a kilo of rubber. We saw that on Friday.

“But you know, you have to carry enough fuel to do the sample, otherwise you’re using fuel as ballast.

“Really sad news for George, but obviously a mistake in their calculations.”

It is a devastating result for a team that would have taken a massive boost in the World Constructors’ Championship thanks to its one-two finish.

But Horner wasn’t the only person Sky Sports was able to catch for an opinion. Indeed, they were able to grab Charles Leclerc — who inherited third place after Russell’s disqualification but was unable to celebrate on the podium — before the Monegasque racer left the circuit.

“They had done an incredible job today, and it’s not the difference of the weight; they won because they were the stronger team today,” Leclerc said.

“Obviously, these kinds of things, it’s difficult to do an exception, and it’s understandable that they got disqualified.

“It’s unfortunate because [Russell] had done an amazing job, as well as Mercedes.”

The disqualification will certainly provide plenty of food for thought for the Mercedes team heading into this extended summer shutdown period.

- Elizabeth Blackstock

HOW RED BULL AVOIDED USGP ERROR THAT GOT HAMILTON AND LECLERC EXCLUDED

LEWIS HAMILTON ON DISQUALIFICATION

 

USA TODAY Sports 

Mercedes accepted their punishment after Formula One stewards disqualified Lewis Hamilton from second place in Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix along with sixth-placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.

The governing FIA had reported both drivers to stewards after their cars failed post-race checks on the under-floor wooden planks at Austin's Circuit of the Americas (COTA).

Stewards imposed the standard penalty after both teams acknowledged the measurements carried out by the FIA were correct.

Mercedes had stated that the high wear on the skid pads was probably due to the bumpy track and the race being run to a sprint format for the first time.

That meant a 100km race on Saturday and only one practice session instead of the usual three.

DOUBLES PAIR DISQUALIFIED FROM FRENCH OPEN AFTER BALL GIRL IS STRUCK FROM ERRANT HIT

 

"Stars booted out of French Open after ball girl left in tears by careless blunder

Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were handed a default by the umpire of their French Open third round clash with Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo after a stray shot hit a ball girl"

 "Two tennis stars have been booted out of the French Open after one of the pair inadvertently left a ball girl in tears.

Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were taking on Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo in the third round of the women's doubles when the incident happened. Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo had edged the first set 7-6 on Court 14.