The American men’s 4×100-meter relay team had their sights set on the prize — but after the sudden departure of teammate Noah Lyles, they couldn’t muster themselves to pull out the victory.
Just minutes after the US women’s team took home victory in the 4x100m relay final on Friday, August 9, the US men’s team was disqualified from the race.
Amid the steady rain, a failed handoff between Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek, in which Coleman handed the bat out of the handoff zone, ultimately led to the disqualification of the team, which also includes Fred Kerley and Kyree King.
Canada won the race with a time of 37.50 seconds, South Africa was second with 37.57, and Great Britain took home the bronze medal.
“[The handoff] it just didn’t happen,” Coleman, 28, told reporters, including PEOPLE, after the race. “We practiced a lot. I mean, me and Kenny have been competitive as well as teammates a few times over the years, and we felt really confident out there. And at this point it’s just… It’s part of the sport.”
Andre De Grasse from Team Canada, Jiapeng Chen from Team People’s Republic of China, Akani Simbine from Team South Africa, Pablo Mateo from Team France, Fred Kerley from Team United States of America and Zharnel Hughes from Team Great Britain compete in the men’s 4x100m final at the day fourteen of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Stade de France on August 9, 2024 in Paris, France.
Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Noah Lyles finished with the Olympics after a positive diagnosis of COVID, bronze in 200 meters: ‘This will be the end’
Bednarek, 25, told reporters that teammates can be “a little hard on themselves” and that while they are “a little disappointed,” they remain focused on the future.
“We wanted to do it, we wanted to bring it home. We knew we had the speed to do it. It just didn’t happen,” he said. “But we’re all human beings too and we’ve been through ups and downs in life. This is just another one of those moments where we just have to keep our heads down and keep pushing. I mean, that’s part of the sport.”
The athlete added that he expects that “we will all return to the team in Los Angeles, on our home field.”
“I think we’ll have a bit more confidence and we’ll be able to bring it home,” he added.
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A medal in Friday’s competition would be the first for the US men’s team since they won silver in Athens in 2004.
Lyles was supposed to be part of the team but was forced to drop out after contracting COVID.
The star competed in the men’s 200m final after testing positive on Thursday to win bronze, days after winning the men’s 100m gold medal.
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Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education