Carl Lewis Calls US 4x100 Performance a "total embarrassment"

Source: 'A total embarrassment': Carl Lewis slams U.S. track leadership after 4x100 relay failure (link)

Trayvon Bromell called it “BS.” Carl Lewis called it “a total embarrassment.” Whatever you want to call it, the U.S. still can’t find four men who can pass the baton to one another while running as fast as they can. For the fourth straight Olympics, U.S. men failed to win a medal in an event they once owned. The favored Americans finished sixth in their 4x100-meter relay heat Thursday and didn't qualify for the final largely because Fred Kerley and Ronnie Baker botched the baton pass between the relay's second and third leg. What started off as a scant margin turned out to be the difference between a lifeline and misery. China, Canada, Italy, Germany and Ghana all qualified for the final from the U.S.’s heat. The Americans once again were left to stare at the video board in dismay and figure out what went wrong.

The U.S. couldn't recover despite deploying its three fastest men in the prelims. Bromell owns the top time in the world this year in the 100. Kerley and Baker finished second and fifth, respectively, in the Olympic final. Even Cravon Gillespie, who placed sixth in the 100 at the U.S. Olympic Trials, is the fastest remaining American who didn't run in the men's 200 final less than 24 hours earlier. 

There's no doubt the relay was a complete disappointment. Even Carl Lewis, nine-time Olympic gold medalist, joined in on the criticism. He tweeted that the U.S. relay passed the baton worse than AAU teams, calling it a "total embarrassment". Lewis also took issue with which Americans ran which legs. It's unclear exactly what Lewis meant, but the decision to put Gillespie on the anchor leg was a head scratcher. So was using Baker to run the curve on the third leg. Why not leave that to someone with a background in the 200 and let Baker showcase his 60-meter speed on the opening leg?

Regardless, speed is never the issue for the U.S. men's 4x100-meter relay. Inevitably, it's preparation - and essentially everything else - that plagues the Americans.