“Now We Own Disastrous Exchanges”: US Men’s 4x100m Relay ‘Nightmare’ Sparks Outrage in Track World

Radha Iyer | 10/08/2024
Justin Gatlin Reveals Why Team USA Men’s 4x100m Relay Flopped at Paris Olympics

Not all things were rosy for Team USA at the Paris Olympics with a recent track and field tragedy leaving fans with a bitter aftertaste. The Men’s 4x100m relay witnessed an absolute disaster show that ended in a disqualification for a faulty pass of the baton.

Christian Coleman, Kenny Bednarek, Fred Kerley, and Kyree King were all hyped before the bang. However, a botched handoff of the baton between Coleman and Bednarek during the third leg of the relay resulted in the latter almost stopping to get the pass, ending in a delay.

The team stood in seventh place, losing to Team Canada, who bagged the gold. However, race officials issued a disqualification later due to the baton passing incident. It turned out that Coleman was beyond the handoff zone when he gave the baton to Bednarek.

Fans were not at all happy with the result, raging over how the men missed the mark despite maintaining good speed.

One called it a nightmare situation, especially since the team members were the favorites of many.

Several fans had a bone to pick with Bednarek, who they felt started running a bit too early for Coleman to catch up.

One fan was outraged at how they could slip up despite qualifying for the Olympics.

Lastly, one couldn’t help but reminisce about how the US Men’s relay team dominated the tracks at some point.

Unfortunately for the US, this hasn’t been the first time since a relay team has messed up the event. Fans seemed to notice how this tended to happen every time with every Men’s relay team at the Olympics.

From faulty baton exchanges to straight-up disqualifications and bans, the US teams have been notorious on the track for not having a stellar record for this event.

Since then, the track and field world has been stressing the importance of maintaining healthy relationships amongst members and appropriate training for relay races.

The women’s 4x100m relay team made history by winning the gold medal with Sha’Carri Richardson, Twanisha Terry, Melissa Jefferson, and Gabby Thomas.

Post Edited By: Sampurna Pal
Christian Coleman Fred Kerley Kenny Bednarek Kyree King

About the author

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Radha Iyer

Radha Iyer is a US Sports writer at The SportsRush. With a Master's degree in Media and Communication, and a background in content creation and production, sports journalism has been a part and parcel of her demonstrated history in the said field. Olympic sports hold a special place in her heart, and she is particularly interested in sports like track and field, gymnastics, and swimming. She also draws inspiration from legendary athletes like Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Simone Biles, and many more.

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