Olympics-Athletics-Another relay fails as US men finish sixth in qualifying to miss final

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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – Athletics – Men’s 100m – Final – OLS – Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan – August 1, 2021. Lamont Marcell Jacobs from Italy, Fred Kerley from the United States, Akani Simbine from South Africa, Ronnie Baker of the United States and Su Bingtian of China in action REUTERS / Hannah Mckay

  • Bad changes leave an overloaded sixth team in heat
  • Latest in a series of failed sprint relays for the United States
  • “Total embarrassment” says Carl Lewis
  • Jamaica the fastest semi-finalist

TOKYO, Aug. 5 (Reuters) – The United States failed to advance to the Olympic men’s 4×100-meter relay final after an irregular run that saw them finish sixth in their semi-final on Thursday, the last of a series of disastrous performances in an event they have dominated for decades.

The US squad included two of the individual 100m finalists, Fred Kerley and Ronnie Baker, world leader Trayvon Bromell and Cravon Gillespie, who also ran the heats en route to their 2019 World Championship title.

But, despite the depth of talent on display, the changes were mediocre and a shocking second handover caused them to lose momentum. Anchor Gillespie, a controversial inclusion ahead of Kenny Bednarek or Noah Lyles, made no impression in a mass finish, with China being the surprise winner of the round in 37.92.

Canada, brought home by 200m champion Andre de Grasse, finished second, two thousandths of a second, and Italy, aided by new 100m individual champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs, set a national record from 37.95 to also advance.

Germany (38.06) and Ghana (38.08) also finished ahead of the Americans (38.10) to take the two fastest losers places in Friday’s final.

Jamaica led the way in the other semi, qualifying fastest at 37.82, ahead of Great Britain (38.02) and Japan (38.16).

After dominating the event for decades, winning 15 of the 18 Olympics they competed in from 1920 to 2000, a succession of disqualifications and setbacks have helped the United States not win gold since.

In 2004, they were beaten by Great Britain, while they dropped the baton in 2008. They finished second again in 2012, only to be forfeited of the medal due to the positive doping of Tyson Gay, and were again disqualified for a change violation after finishing. third in 2016.

With a series of similar failures at the world championships, this adds to a long history of unhappiness. It’s also another setback for the men’s team from the traditionally most powerful nation in sport in Tokyo, where they struggled to have anything like their usual impact.

Carl Lewis, who helped the United States win two Olympic golds and three world gold in the sprint relay, was one of many to share his disappointment on social media. “The United States team has it all wrong in the men’s relay,” Lewis tweeted.

“The passing system is bad, the athletes are running with the wrong legs, and it was clear that there was no leadership. It was a total embarrassment and totally unacceptable for an American team to look worse. than the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) kids I’ve seen. “

(This story corrects the full name of the AAU to Amateur Athletic Union, not American Association of Universities, in the last paragraph)

Reporting by Mitch Phillips, additional reporting by Gene Gerry, editing by Peter Rutherford & Shri Navaratnam

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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