Why didn't USA Men's 4x100m relay team finish the race at the World U20 Championships? All about the incident that shook the country's team once again

The troubling streak of underperformance for the USA men's 4x100m relay teams persisted at the World Athletics Junior U20 Championships 2024, following the senior men's 4x100m relay team show at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The team of Brayden Williams, James Bauman, Braylon Thompson, and Cordial Vann competed in the relay heats at the Junior Championships in Lima, Peru on Friday, August 30.

Williams ran the first leg and his hand-off to Bauman on the curve could not be completed within the exchange zone, and the team did not continue on from that point in the race. They thus did not qualify for the relay final. The troubles with passing the baton were reminiscent of the men's senior relay team facing the same issue at the recently concluded Paris Olympic Games 2024.

At the Paris Games, the USA men's 4x100m relay team of Christian Coleman, Fred Kerley, Kyree King, and Courtney Lindsey was disqualified under rule TR24.7. Bednarek accelerated too early, causing the baton exchange to occur outside the designated zone.

Following the lackluster performance of the USA men's junior team in Peru, American Olympian Carl Lewis expressed his dissatisfaction, stating,

"I've been watching the @WorldAthletics U20 Championships in Peru. We will not be in the men's 4x100 final. I guess we've accepted the fact that @usatf teams can not finish a relay race. It is so sad that these young junior athletes also have to suffer from their incompetence."

The clumsy baton exchange between Coleman and Bednarek and the subsequent disqualification of the team in Paris continued the Olympic medal drought for the U.S. men’s 4x100 relay team.

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USA Men's 4x100m relay team cruises to victories in World Championships but struggles at Olympic Games

Noah Lyles celebrates the team's gold medal win in the Men's 4x100m Relay Final during the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo via Getty Images)

The USA Men's 4x100m relay team has not made an Olympic podium since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The 4x100m team in Sydney, comprising Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams, Brian Lewis, and Maurice Greene, won the last Olympic medal in this event.

In contrast, the men's 4x100m relay team has consistently managed podium finishes at the World Athletics Championships. At the 2023 Championships, the team of Noah Lyles, Christian Coleman, Fred Kerley, and Brandon Carnes topped the event with an impressively fast time of 37.38s.

The team has claimed a podium finish in the 4x100m relays at successive Championships since the 2017 Championships in London.