Nine-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis has called on the US Track and Field Federation to “blow up the system” after another Olympic failure for the men’s 4x100m relay team.
The U.S. men extended their medal drought to 20 years in the relay on Friday in Paris after they were disqualified for an illegal pass. Christian Coleman collided with teammate Kenny Bednarek while making the baton exchange between the first and second legs, throwing off the timing of the pass and forcing the exchange outside the legal zone.
“It’s time to blow up the system,” Lewis said wrote on X after the disappointing result. “This remains completely unacceptable. It is clear that EVERYONE at [USA Track and Field] is more focused on relationships than winning. No athlete should step out on the track and run another relay until this program is changed from top to bottom.”
Canada took top spot on the podium, with André De Grasse providing a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing Olympics by anchoring Canada to gold in a time of 37.50 seconds. It was De Grasse’s first medal in Paris, but his seventh overall. South Africa came second and Team GB third – the USA crossed the line in seventh before being disqualified.
Earlier in the day, Sha’Carri Richardson led the U.S. women’s team to gold in the women’s 4x100m final, winning her first Olympic medal. But despite the success of the women’s team, the result for the men’s team was more of the same.
Even without Noah Lyles, who was out of the starting lineup due to Covid, the US went into the race as favorites. But over the past 20 years, they have had a hand in stifling Olympic hopes. The last time they won a medal was in 2012, but it was later stripped due to a doping violation.
The relay events were largely similar to Friday’s, with bad exchanges and disqualifications plaguing the team during its Olympic drought.
2004 Athens: A failed change saw the American men finish in silver behind Team GB.
2008 Beijing: The US failed to advance beyond the preliminary rounds after a staff fell.
2012 London: The US finished second behind Jamaica, but was later disqualified for a doping violation.
Rio 2016: The US was disqualified in the final after another failed attempt.
2021 Tokyo: A bad exchange prevented the US from reaching the final.
At the world championships, things were a little better. But not by much. At the time, US Track and Field was accused of not prioritizing relays—and of changing lineups too often during a Games, which hurt team chemistry. But the four-man squad for the finals in Paris disputed that.
“We’ve been practicing a lot,” Coleman said after the race. “Kenny and I have been on the team a couple of times and we felt really confident going out there. It’s part of the sport. We wanted to do it, we wanted to bring it home, we knew we had the speed to do it, but this is a risk and reward thing.”
Lewis had previously said that the coaches, not the athletes, should be blamed if the U.S. failed to win the relay final. “If Team USA wins all the relays tomorrow,” Lewis wrote the day before the final. “Talk to the athletes. If something happens and they don’t win. Talk to the coaches ONLY.”
The coaching approach seemed to have no effect on the women’s team, who crossed the finish line in good order to claim their 12th Olympic gold medal in the event. The men’s team, as so often, simply did not mesh together.