Disastrous exchange rate costs US teams

BEIJING - Tyson Gay blamed himself for the dropped baton in Heat 1 of the men's 4 x 100-meter relay. Teammate Darvis Patton said it was his fault. Team USA track coach Bubba Thornton wanted all fingers pointed at him.

But all the well-intentioned, postrace self-deprecation could not change what happened on the track last night at the National Stadium. Anchoring the relay, Gay reached back to Patton for the baton and grabbed only air. After failing to complete the final exchange, the US cannot add to its 2007 world championship in the event and exact a measure of revenge on newly dominant Jamaica. The Americans can only watch the relay final as another country wins a medal the US expected to take home.

"I think I felt the stick hit my hand, but I don't think it was in all the way before I grabbed it," said Gay. "It's probably my fault. I take the blame for it. When I turned around and realized I was about to come out of the exchange zone, I was like, 'Whoa.' I don't know what happened. That it's the total opposite from last year is upsetting. The other teams got off easy in the 4 x 100 because we were ready to run pretty fast."

When told Gay took the blame, Patton shook his head.

"That's Tyson Gay," he said. "He's a very humble guy, but I know it's my job as an incoming runner to get the guy the baton. I didn't do that. We didn't execute."

When the US women's 4 x 100 relay team also dropped the baton during the exchange between third leg Torri Edwards and anchor Lauryn Williams, the devastating déjà vu became a symbol of all that has gone wrong for Team USA. It was the first time the men's relay team failed to reach the Olympic final since 1988. The women will be absent from the final for the first time since 1948.

Beyond the relays, reigning world champions have not made finals. Other medal contenders have produced their best performances this season on the European circuit or at the US Olympic trials, not at the Games. Hurdles have been hit and hamstrings strained with gold on the line.

More Americans have held back tears in the mixed zone than have stood for "The Star-Spangled Banner." The disappointments have piled up so quickly that poor performances appear contagious. It certainly seemed that way with the relays, though women's 4 x 100 member Mechelle Lewis said the two dropped batons were "a big, huge, unfortunate coincidence."

But more than coincidence seems at work with the rest of the US struggles. While the US picked up its 20th medal and fourth gold of the competition last night, those numbers are far lower than what the Americans are accustomed to.

"My expectations were to come in here and repeat the performances that we had at our trials," said Thornton. "If we do that, we're in great shape. We performed in other competitions, so I felt really good about how we came in. You guys do the medal count. This is the Olympic Games. People come here to play. This is a real competition. No one expects to not pass the baton. We worked on it. But again, it's not about the guys. Just throw [the blame] right here.

"At this point, we've got a lot of track meet left, a lot of events. Right now, we need to focus on them and make the adjustments later for what we need to do the next go-round. We can't change nothing. It is what it is right now. It hurts."

When Edwards raised her hands and screamed in horror as the baton fell to the track and rolled two lanes to the right, the hurt was evident. Both Edwards and Williams appeared in good position for a smooth handoff. Replays showed Williams with her left arm extended and fingers spread ready for the baton midway through the exchange zone. But at that point, the baton was in midair.

"I'm not quite sure exactly what happened," said Williams. "We came out here to compete. We came out here to run our hearts out, get some revenge toward Jamaica. Maybe you focus too much on it. You've got to do the first round before you do the second round. No excuses. We trained hard. We had great chemistry this time. Things just didn't go as planned.

"We saw a few of the replays at some of the other media [stands]. It looked like it was a good handoff. My hand was there. The stick was there. I'm telling people the stick had a mind of its own. It wasn't me. It wasn't Torri. Maybe it was electronic, had a little bug inside of there. It jumped out. It wasn't either one of our faults. It's just unfortunate . . . The whole Games hasn't gone quite as planned for Team USA in track and field. So, it's just unfortunate."

It was the second consecutive Olympics in which Williams found herself on the wrong end of a botched handoff. But unlike Athens, where Williams had poor chemistry with Marion Jones, the sprinters said relay practices here went well. The US women did not use the rain-soaked track, the constant drizzle, or the men's drop as excuses.

While the men stood around in shock, Williams didn't let a dropped baton keep her from running across the finish line. In a show of pride and a sign the US will not stay down for long, Williams picked up the baton and sprinted down the final straightaway.

"I was just telling them that maybe I sort of jinxed us, if you believe in jinxing," said Williams. "One of the things we did discuss was knowing the rules and knowing what to do in a situation if everything does go wrong. In '04, I didn't know. Do I stop? Wait? Whatever? We went through the rule book and we knew all the rules and I said, 'In the event that it goes wrong, I'm not walking around the track. I'm never walking around the track again.' Maybe that was foreshadowing or something. I just knew when that stick went down I was not walking to the finish line. I picked it up and I ran. I told my team, 'We are running through the line no matter what.' "

Meanwhile, in the mixed zone, Gay and Patton continued to take the blame for their drop. When told Patton said it was his fault, Gay said, "He's just being nice." It was noted that Gay missed training camp with the relay team and did not practice exchanges with Patton until after competing in the 100. But Gay and Patton said their week of work on handoffs went well.

The Americans will have to dig deeper than a review of relay team practices and selection procedures to correct their mistakes. But they have to start somewhere. Right now, most members of the US track team wish starting over was an option in Beijing.

Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com.