Yahoo Sports U.S. Men's 4x100 Relay Team Botches Another Baton Pass In Olympics Disaster
The U.S. men’s 4x100-meter relay team did it again.
The squad botched a baton pass and was disqualified from the Paris Olympics final on Friday.
Second leg Kenny Bednarek took off too soon and then had to slow down to receive Christian Coleman’s handoff as they collided, dooming the Americans to another disappointment in the event.
The U.S. hasn’t won a medal in the event in 20 years, and it’s been 24 years since they won gold.
Canada won in 37.50 seconds, followed by South Africa (37.57) and Great Britain (37.61).
Even without 100-meter gold medalist Noah Lyles, who sat out the relay after contracting COVID-19, the Americans had more than enough firepower to win.
All they needed to do was smoothly move the baton around the track.
That’s been a tall order in recent Summer Games.
The U.S. had baton issues while finishing sixth in a preliminary heat in the 2021 Games and didn’t make the final. In 2016 they were plagued by an illegal handoff. In 2008 they dropped the baton in the first round.
It was the kind of history the Americans certainly didn’t want to repeat in Paris.
