A failed baton pass doomed the U.S. men at the Olympics again.
Even without Noah Lyles participating, the U.S. had a powerhouse team that was favored to win. Despite those advantages, disaster struck in a scene that has become all too familiar.
The U.S. mangled their first baton pass as Christian Coleman and Kenneth Bednarek couldn't get on the same page. The failed pass put the Americans far behind the field. LaterFailed exchanges have marred the U.S. team's chances at Olympic medals for years in something that has become the rule, not the exception.
At the 2020 Summer Olympics, the U.S. men failed to make the final due to a botched exchange. During the 2016 Games, they were disqualified for passing the baton outside the zone. They were disqualified from the final in 2012 due to doping after finishing second. In 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, they didn't make it out of the first heat after dropping the baton on their final pass.
Despite having some of the world's best sprinters, the U.S. men have failed to medal in the 4x100 meter relay since 2004—when they won silver—and haven't won since the 2000 Summer Olympics. For some reason, other top competitors don't have the problems the U.S. men do when it comes to timing and executing their baton passes. The U.S. women had no problemThis keeps happening to the U.S. men on the biggest stages and, for some reason, they can't fix it.Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024.
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