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| 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
