Carl Lewis unloads on U.S. 4x100-meter relay team after failing to qualify for final
It’s been more than 20 years since the United States men have won the gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the Olympic Games.
The U.S. men last won a medal in 2004 with a second-place finish in the event.
That drought will continue after a botched relay between the second and third legs during Thursday’s semifinal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Ronnie Baker eventually got the baton from Fred Kerley, but not before Kerley was nearly at Baker’s side. You can see it in this video at about the 1 minute, 20 second mark:
The United States team finished sixth in qualifying and won’t have a chance to win a medal.
“It’s a lot on our shoulders when we go out there and wear this uniform, because you’re expected to meet the expectation; you’re expected to get gold,” Cravon Gillespie, who ran the anchor leg, said, per the Washington Post. “When you go out there and don’t even make the final, it’s crazy, man. It’s just crazy.”
Carl Lewis, who twice anchored gold-medal winning 4x100-meter relay teams for the United States, expressed his displeasure on Twitter. Lewis did not hold back in his criticism.
“The USA team did everything wrong in the men’s relay,” Lewis wrote. “The passing system is wrong, athletes running the wrong legs, and it was clear that there was no leadership. It was a total embarrassment, and completely unacceptable for a USA team to look worse than the AAU kids I saw.”
When contacted by USA Today’s Christine Brennan, Lewis doubled down on his criticism of the U.S. team, saying it was a “clown show.”
“This was a football coach taking a team to the Super Bowl and losing 99-0 because they were completely ill-prepared,” Lewis said.
“It’s unacceptable. It’s so disheartening to see this because it’s people’s lives. We’re just playing games with people’s lives. That’s why I’m so upset. It’s totally avoidable. And America is sitting there rooting for the United States and then they have this clown show. I can’t take it anymore. It’s just unacceptable. It is not hard to do the relay.”
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 8:59 AM.
