2021 mOG 4x1: you sure you wanna open this one?

[SoCal45]

Even with Bromell and Gillespie they would have qualified with even a slightly below average 2nd exhange instead of an awful one.

but you can NEVER count on USA having "even a slightly below average 2nd exchange"...you should be able to count on their speed to make up of it...it was lack of speed on legs 1,3 and 4 that killed their chances.

[player]

i suspect Gillespie has participated in USATF relay camps in the past and Williams obviously hasn't.

That was my guess: that it was based on past relay participation.

Consistent with the "We just need to get the baton around" thinking that led to this outcome.

Thanks for the laugh in the updated thread title.

[Scratch_leg]

official statement: inured lead off runner??? Is Bromell injured, and if so, why in the hell did you run him…?

[DrJay]

Groundhog Day

[18.99s]

Somebody on FB wrote that this is the first time in Olympic and World Championship history where the US men didn't win a medal in the 4x1 and also didn't DQ or DNF. Is that true?

[hipNrip]

The irony of the narrative: Jamaican male sprinting on a downward spiral and American male sprinting on the rise again. Today we had Jamaican sprinters go gold bronze in the 110 hurdlers and top time in the 4x1 heats with subpar exchanges and easing up on final leg.

US must do something different. As suggested by some already, how about taking the 4th-7th finishers at the us trials and have them train together until the championships/Olympics?

[guru]

So I guess this is where I come in with my traditional upsweep pass post

[Track78]

Can we change the topic and talk about what a beast Andre De Grasse is? Doubled up here, then runs the heat and walks down almost everyone. Canadians ran him out there to ensure they gave themselves the very best chance of advancing and he did not disappoint.

[hipNrip]

The rules don't allow it.

what rule is that?

[NotDutra5]

The rules don't allow it.

Sure they do. What makes you think they can't run 4-7 from the OTs?

[hipNrip]

Sure they do. What makes you think they can't run 4-7 from the OTs?

that was my reaction. Never heard of such a thing. How did Gillespie make the relay team then? Why can’t a country take any 4 they want to represent them? I know some countries only allow for athletes who participated at trials to be members of relay pools, but why can’t the US take runners 4-7?

[1.609]

i see you are newly arrived, 1.609. But many posters here have been trying to help right the ship for a dozen years or so, The US men are in trouble again; the US women won't embarrass Team USA.

Yeah I'm aware of the history, the hand wringing and head banging. That line about the anchor rivals just about any of the nuttiest Covid claims I've heard. It's one thing to imagine saying it, something else out of the ballpark to make it an official statement. It might even make a big orange hairdo blush.

[Jacksf]

Too much blame being put on Gillespie. With the other 3, the USA should have been able to easily QUALIFY.
It comes down to passing. It comes down to passing every time, and the USA is never good at it.

[Jacksf]

If Gillespie had just fallen with 10 meters to go, would the officials have advanced the team?

. Hahaha!!!!
This is maybe the best comment in all the Olympics posts here.

[18.99s]

that was my reaction. Never heard of such a thing. How did Gillespie make the relay team then? Why can’t a country take any 4 they want to represent them? I know some countries only allow for athletes who participated at trials to be members of relay pools, but why can’t the US take runners 4-7?

The Olympic rules require that every individual entered in the 100m or 400m must also be in the 6 names for the corresponding relay pool.

So if 3 are in the individual event, you can't have an entirely separate quartet who is dedicated to relay-only training.