Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis had strong words for the United States’s men’s 4×100-meter relay team following several mistakes and missteps in Thursday’s qualifying race.
Lewis, 60, who competed in four Olympic games, tweeted that “the USA team did everything wrong in the men’s relay. 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.”
EVERYTHING THAT’S GONE WRONG FOR THE TOKYO OLYMPICS SO FAR
The USA team did everything wrong in the men’s relay. 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 .
— Carl Lewis (@Carl_Lewis) August 5, 2021
Sprinter Ronnie Baker missed twice on a baton exchange with Fred Kerley before using two hands to pass the baton.
“We just didn’t get the job done today. That’s all,” Kerley said afterward.
Trayvon Bromell, who ran the opening leg, told NBC that he was “mad.”
“I’m honestly kind of mad, not at these guys, they did what they could do,” he said. “I did what I can do. I can really just speak for myself in a sense. Like I said, these guys did their job, I did what I could do. On the first leg, it just — it’s really some BS for real, to be honest with you.”
Team member Cravon Gillespie called their performance “unacceptable.”
Team USA finished sixth in the qualifying race in heat two and will not get an opportunity to medal. It finished with a time of 38.10. China won the heat, finishing with a time of 37.92, Canada placed second, and Italy placed third.
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The 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, was the last time the U.S. team won the 4×100-meter relay. It finished second in the 2012 London Olympics but had that medal stripped due to a doping ban on team member Tyson Gay.
Lewis competed in the 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996 Olympics, where he won medals in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 4×100-meter races, as well as the long jump event.
