Team GB finished second in their heat in the men’s 4x100m relay final – but favorites USA crashed out of contention after a disastrous race and finished sixth in their race
Team GBMen’s 4x100m relay team After coming second in their heats, they advanced to Friday’s finals while favorites USA were eliminated from the competition.
CJ Ujah, Nathaniel Mitchell-Blake, Richard Kilty and Jarnell Hughes Finished in the first heat in 38.02 s, second only to Jamaica.
Yet the second heat came as a big blow, as the USA team of Trayvon Bromell, Fred Kerley, Ronnie Baker and Craven Gillespie finished sixth, fueled by a series of poor exchanges, resulting in a time of 38.10 seconds.
Team GB’s men’s 4x100m relay team reached Friday’s final after finishing second in the heat
Still the favorite USA would not be in the final after making several changes (Craven Gillespie pictured)
The United States team featured two of the individual 100m finalists in Kerala and Baker, world leaders Bromell and Gillespie, also ran the heat en route for their 2019 World Championship-winning team.
But despite the depth of talent on the show, a shocking second change caused them to lose all momentum and Gillespie was unable to drive them back into massive contention, with China winning the surprise heat in 37.92.
Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis didn’t hold back in his assessment, tweeting: ‘The USA team did everything wrong in the men’s relay.
‘The passing system is wrong, the athletes are running the wrong foot, and it was clear there was no lead.
‘It was a complete embarrassment, and completely unacceptable for the USA team to look worse than the kids from AAU (Association of American Universities).’
Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis was sharp in his criticism of the USA team
Gillespie was unable to drive them back into contention as China won the second heat.
Nathaniel Mitchell-Blake (R) races into the final stage for the Brits who will target a medal
Canada was second, trailing by two-thousandths of a second, and Italy, with the help of newly crowned individual champion Lamont Marcel Jacobs, posted a national record of 37.95 to advance.
After dominating the event for decades, a succession of disqualifications contributed to the United States not managing gold since 2000.
It is the latest setback in a far below showdown in Tokyo for the male side of the sport’s traditionally most powerful nation.
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