8 of the top 12 100m sprinters this year were Americans.
And yet the USA's 4x100m failed to advance to the final at the Tokyo Olympics.
Trayvon Bromell, Ronie Baker, Fred Kerley and Cravon Gillespie finished sixth in their 1/2 in 38′'10 behind teams like Ghana, Italy and even Germany.
Blame it on a catastrophic first stint for Bromell, the fastest man of the season before arriving in Tokyo and who also failed to qualify for the 100m final.
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
“I just didn't do my job,” apologized for the season's top performer on the queen distance in 9''77.
A result criticized by American legend Carl Lewis: “Team USA did everything wrong during this stint.
The passing of the relay was bad, the sprinters did not have the legs.
And it is clear that there was no leader in this team.
It is unacceptable to the United States.
"
American athletics in difficulty
The repeated failures of the American 4x100m at the Olympics remain a mystery.
The "Team USA" has not won a medal on this relay since the Athens Olympics in 2004. In 2008, 2012 and 2016, the United States were disqualified after poor relay transmissions.
This year, it is once again the passing of the baton which is at the origin of this elimination.
However, everything is going well at the World Championships since the American relay was crowned in 2019.
Another disappointment for the US sprint over short distances in the Japanese capital.
In the 110m hurdles final, world champion Grant Holloway was surprised by Jamaican Hansle Parchment and had to settle for silver.
American athletics is no longer so sovereign.
For its part, the French relay was also eliminated in the semi-final. On the other hand, the women's team will see the final thanks to a repechage on time.
