PARIS — Christian Coleman could have been describing the snakebit history of the U.S. men’s 4 x 100-meter relay when he addressed the botched handoff that led to the Americans’ disqualification at the Paris Olympics.
“It just didn’t happen,” said Coleman.
The Atlanta native acknowledged that he and his teammates could have put in more work. But the composition and order of the relay changed dramatically when 100-meter champ Noah Lyles tested positive for Covid earlier this week.
In the qualification round at Stade de France Thursday morning, Coleman ran the lead-off leg, followed by Fred Kerley, Kyree King and Courtney Lindsey. The U.S. posted the fastest time of 37.47.
With Lyles out, Coleman, an excellent starter, continued to lead off. But now Kenny Bednarek, fresh off his second silver medal in the 200 meters, was slotted into the second leg, followed by King. Kerley, the 100-meter bronze medalist, became anchor.
“We came out here and we had the mindset of no risk, no reward,” King said. “So, we went out there and went big. It didn’t happen.”
Coleman got out well on the rain-spattered track, but had trouble getting the stick to Bednarek in an almost-comical exchange. Bednarek left early, then practically stopped. Coleman even got ahead of Bednarek at one point before finally relinquishing the baton. However, the pass was outside the zone, which caused the disqualification.
The next handoff was adequate. Then Kerley got the baton in seventh place and didn’t pass anyone. Only China finished behind the United States. Canada was first with a time of 37.52, followed by South Africa (37.57) and Great Britain (37.61).
The last time the United States won the gold medal in the 4 x 100 relay was 2000 in Sydney. After a silver in 2004, the Americans have been shut out of the medals, with notable mishaps including a fall in 2008, a doping positive in 2012, or, in the case of 2021 in Tokyo, running so slow they didn’t make the final. The U.S. World Championships history in the event is equally spotty.
While Coleman gamely answered questions from reporters, the normally taciturn Kerley was talkative, but combative. He opened the interview session in the “mixed zone,” where reporters speak to athletes across metal barricades, by saying, “If y’all say something stupid, we ain’t talking. I’m just going to let y’all know that now.”
Coleman couldn’t pinpoint exactly what went wrong on the exchange. So what was his first thought when he realized the mistake would cost his team?
“It’s a part of the sport,” he said.
Kerley weighed in: “You saw the same thing we saw, right? All right, so that’s a stupid question.”
Did the team have a message for the public?
“We’re here to perform and do what USA do best,” Kerley said. “We (didn’t) get the job done and we said it at the beginning of the questions, so I think that was a dumb question.”
Another question about what happened made Kerley stalk away.
“I’m not sure you want me to point fingers or something like that,” Coleman said. “I think as a team, as a unit, we just didn’t get it done today. That’s as simple as that.”
In 2016, Coleman ran in the preliminary rounds in Rio, but the U.S. failed to medal.
After missing the Tokyo Olympics because he was on suspension for a “whereabouts” failure, Coleman wound up fourth at the 2024 U.S. Trials in both the 100 and 200. The 4 x 100 relay was his only chance for a medal.
Coleman said he and his teammates were a bit hard on themselves. “Obviously, it’s a little disappointing, especially for America,” he said, “because we wanted to bring it home and we knew we had the speed to do it.
“But we are human beings too. We’ve been though ups and downs in life. This is just another one of those times, where we’ve just got to keep our head down, and just keep pushing.”
Lyles did make an appearance at the track Friday night. Wearing a black mask, he received his bronze medal in the awards ceremony for the 200 meters.
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