Team USA's Men's 4x100M Team Fails to Qualify for Final Round

The American men's team was beaten by Ghana by .02 seconds for the last spot in the final, continuing the team's long-running drought in this event.

Another year, another tough result for Team USA's men's 4x100m relay team.

The U.S. team finished in sixth place in its qualifying heat, one spot shy of advancing to the final round. Fifth-place finisher Ghana edged the Americans by .02 seconds for the final spot.

The U.S. men's 4x100 relay team will not medal at the #Tokyo2020 #Olympics 😓

(via @NBCOlympics) pic.twitter.com/OrkKD2pYF7

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 5, 2021

A critical moment in the race came on the baton exchange between Fred Kerley and Ronnie Baker, who couldn't quite pull off a seamless transition. The U.S. still had a chance to sneak into the final on the fourth leg, but was beaten by a nose by Ghana.

By not moving on to the final heat, the U.S. extends a dubious drought in one of the marquee track and field events. The U.S. men's team has not medaled in this event since 2004 in Athens, and has not won gold since the 2000 Games in Sydney.

The sustained run of shortcomings does not appear to sit well with American sprinting icon Carl Lewis.

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

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