US 4 x 100m Relay: When Failure Becomes Chronic | Sports | DW

The judgment of the old master caused disaster. Sprint legend Carl Lewis tweeted that the American sprinter relay team “did everything wrong” during the opening race in Tokyo. “It was clear that handing over the baton was wrong, the players’ order was wrong and no one was in the lead.” Lewis, now 60, won a total of nine gold medals at the Olympics between 1984 and 1996, two of them in the 4×100 meter relay. “It is uncomfortable and completely unacceptable that an American group gave a worse picture than the children of the AAU. [Amateur-Leichtathletik-Verband der USA – Anm. d. Red.]I have seen “,” Carl the Great “ended his motto.

Trevon Bromel, Fred Kerley, Ronnie Baker and Cravon Gillespie finished sixth in their opening race in Tokyo in 38.10 seconds. The German sprinter relay was also fast in 38.06 seconds and qualified for the finals over time.

The 4×100 meter relay was once considered the safest gold bank in the United States. In the ten summer games between 1964 and 2000, the American quartet was a seven-time Olympic champion, and they were not there because they boycotted the Games in Moscow in 1980.

For the fourth time in a row without a medal

Since winning the silver medal in Athens in 2004, the failure of American relay sprinters has become almost a tradition. In Beijing in 2008, the American boys failed – because they are now in Tokyo – in advance. In London in 2012, the U.S. quartet first won silver behind Jamaica, but had to return the medal three years later – because season member Tyson Kay was later accused of doping with anabolic steroids. In 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, American sprinters first landed on the bronze list behind Jamaica and Japan, but were later disqualified: they crossed the bar outside the permitted zone when switching.

Very little training

After the relay bankruptcy in Tokyo, the beginner racer Bromel holds the world-best time of over 9.77 seconds for the 100 meters. Truth be told, it really is PS [amerikanische Abkürzung für Bullshit]The 26-year-old was surprisingly eliminated in the 100-meter semifinals.

Final runner Gillespie also said “it was frustrating to come here and come home with nothing”. The 25-year-old was asked what caused almost all of the chronic seasonal weakness in the United States. “I don’t want to offend anyone, but we definitely need to practice more,” Gillespie replied. The question is when did they start training. First Gillespie escaped, then he calmly admitted: “Two days ago.”