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SAINT-DENIS, France — The absence of Noah Lyles isn’t what derailed the U.S.’s bid to win gold in the men’s 4x100-meter relay.
It’s the Americans’ maddening inability to find four men who can pass the baton to one another while running as fast as they can.
Christian Coleman, Kenny Bednarek, Kyree King and Fred Kerley finished a distant seventh Friday night and then were ultimately disqualified, extending the U.S.’s 20-year medal drought in the men's 4x100 relay. Canada won a surprise gold in 37.50 seconds. South Africa took silver and Great Britain came away with bronze.
The race went wrong for the U.S. with a botched baton pass between the relay's first and second leg. As Coleman rounded the curve with the baton, Bednarek left far too early and then slowed to a halt in an effort to avoid a disqualification.
It was no use. By the time Coleman passed the baton to Bednarek while crashing into his back, they were already outside the exchange zone.
The best teamwork the U.S. relay team showed came when they talked with reporters after the race. They all spoke beside Bednarek in an effort to shield him from blame.
"We practiced a lot," Coleman said. "Me and Kenny have been competitors but also teammates a few times. We felt really confident going out there. In the heat of the moment, it just didn’t happen."
When asked repeatedly to specify exactly went wrong, Coleman said, "I’m not sure if you want me to point fingers or something like that. As a team, as a unit, we didn’t get it done today."
The line of questioning also annoyed Kerley, who interjected, "Y’all say the same s*** over and over."
Andre de Grasse anchors Canada to 4x100m GOLD in Paris! 🇨🇦 #ParisOlympics
📺 NBC & Peaco*ck pic.twitter.com/uA15jxhZHb
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 9, 2024
It was no surprise the U.S. struggled again passing the baton. The names change every four years, but the story seldom does.
At the 2008 Olympics, the U.S. was cruising toward a spot in the 4x100 final when Darvis Patton bore down on Tyson Gay for the last changeover, and a mix-up sent the baton tumbling to the rain-soaked track.
Four years later, the U.S. finished second to Jamaica, only to be stripped of its silver medals as a result of Gay's doping case.
In 2016, the U.S. joined victorious Jamaica and second-place Japan on a victory lap only to learn it had been disqualified. A bungled baton pass between Mike Rodgers and Justin Gatlin occurred outside the designated zone.
Worst of all was Tokyo. The favored Americans finished sixth in their preliminary heat and didn't qualify for the final largely because Kerley and Ronnie Baker botched the baton pass between the relay's second and third leg.
After that failure, the legendary Carl Lewis called it a "total embarrassment." Friday, he went even further.
"It is time to blow up the system," Lewis posted on X. "This continues to be completely unacceptable. 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."
The latest failure to make the Olympic podium comes despite the U.S. boasting three of the 11 fastest 100-meter sprinters in the world this year.
Lyles had hoped this would be the night when he won his third gold medal in Paris and join Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis, Bobby Morrow and Jesse Owens as the only men’s sprinters who have pulled off a sprint treble in a single Olympics. He likely would have run the third leg of the 4x100 for the U.S. because of his proficiency running the curve.
That plan crumbled when Lyles tested positive for COVID two days after winning the closest 100 meters in Olympic history. Lyles revealed that he had COVID after settling for bronze in the 200 on Thursday evening. Only a few hours later, he announced on Instagram that his Olympics were over.
“It is not the Olympics I dreamed of,” Lyles wrote on Instagram, “but it has left me with so much Joy [sic] in my heart. I hope everyone enjoyed the show.”
The show went on without the showman.
And for the U.S., the ending was all too familiar.
