Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek's mistake leads to US men's relay disqualification at Paris Olympics

PARIS, FRANCE: The US men's 4x100-meter relay team aimed for victory, but their chances were compromised by Noah Lyles' unexpected withdrawal, preventing them from clinching the win.

 

Just moments after the American women's team won the 4x100-meter relay final on Friday, August 9, the US men's team was disqualified from their race.

Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek disqualified from men's 200-meter relay team

In a steady rain, an incorrect baton exchange between Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek, with Coleman passing the baton beyond the designated zone, led to the disqualification of their team, which also included Fred Kerley and Kyree King.

 

Canada won the race with a time of 37.50 seconds, narrowly ahead of South Africa at 37.57 seconds, while Great Britain took the bronze medal.

"[The handoff] just didn't happen," Coleman spoke to reporters, including those from PEOPLE, following the race.

He went on to say, "We practiced a lot. I mean, me and Kenny have been competitive but also teammates a few times over the years, and we felt really confident going out there. And in the moment it just, it's a part of the sport."

The 25-year-old Bednarek told reporters that although his teammates are "a little disappointed," they have a tendency to be "a little hard on ourselves," and they're still keeping an eye on the future.

"We wanted to do it, we wanted to bring it home. We knew we had the speed to do it. It simply just didn't happen," he remarked.

"But we're all human beings too, and we've been through ups and downs in life. This is just another one of those times where we just gotta keep our head down and keep pushing. I mean, it's a part of the sport," Bednarek added.

The athlete expressed his expectations saying, "All of us will be back on the team in Los Angeles, on our home soil. I think we'll have a little more confidence and be able to bring it on home."

A medal on Friday, August 9, would have been the US men's team's first since their silver in Athens in 2004. Noah Lyles, who was set to compete, had to withdraw due to a Covid-19 diagnosis.

Despite testing positive for Covid-19 on Thursday, August 8, the star athlete competed in the men's 200-meter final and won a bronze medal, adding to his gold medal from the men's 100-meter earlier in the week.

Internet reacts to disqualification of US team

As soon as the news surfaced on Facebook, users started reacting to it. A user wrote, "Good grief, this was hard to watch!! Get it together and work on the baton hand offs. This was embarrassing. Who is coaching them?"

Another added, "Had nothing to do with speed or Lyles. For some reason, passing the baton has become a big issue for the US men. Maybe we will get it together in 4 more years."

A thrid commentator wrote, "Not again!!! how terrible- once you can understand, but a regular happening?? Who is coaching them? And since Noah wasn't in the race, it wouldn't have mattered- the handoff would have been before his turn to run."

"Wow it looked like they have never done that race before. It was definitely a disaster!!" One remarked.

A person mocked, "Hilarious they spend so much time prancing around stroking their egos they should have spent more time practicing their exchanges lol"

Another added, "The handoffs were TERRIBLE!!!"

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