The U.S. men extended their drought to 20 years without a medal in the Olympic 4×100 relay, disqualified for an illegal pass after Christian Coleman crashed into teammate Kenny Bednarek while making the exchange between the first and second legs.
Andre De Grasse put a bright mark on an otherwise disappointing Olympics by anchoring Canada to gold in a time of 37.50 seconds. It was the first medal in Paris for De Grasse, but his seventh overall. South Africa finished second and Britain third.
Earlier, Sha’Carri Richardson won her first Olympic gold medal, bringing the Americans from behind in the anchor lap to capture the 4×100 relay.
In the men’s race, even without Noah Lyles, who was out of the lineup due to COVID, this looked like America’s race to lose. They have knack for doing just that. The only time the U.S. has captured a medal over the last two decades was in 2012, but that got stripped for a doping violation.
It’s mostly been scenes like this. Coleman first ran into, then passed, Bednarek as they made their awkward exchange.
The women ran their lap cleanly.
