TOKYO (Dispatches) - The failure of the USA’s 4x100m men’s team to reach the final at Tokyo 2020 was a “total embarrassment”, American sprint legend Carl Lewis says.
The United States quartet of Trayvon Bromell, Fred Kerley, Ronnie Baker and Cravon Gillespie were sixth in their heat with a time of 38.10 seconds.
“The USA team did everything wrong in the men’s relay,” said Lewis.
“The passing system is wrong, athletes running the wrong legs, and it was clear that there was no leadership.”
China won the heat in 37.92, with Canada second - just two thousands of a second behind - and Italy third in 37.95 as they qualified for the final.
Germany (38.06) were fourth and Ghana (38.08) fifth as they also finished ahead of the U.S. in their heat.
In a post on social media, Lewis compared the U.S. team unfavourably to the country’s young amateur athletes.
He wrote: “It was a total embarrassment, and completely unacceptable for a USA team to look worse than the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) kids I saw.”
The USA’s four-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson was also critical of the team’s performance.