Team USA wins 5 of 6 at Penn Relays, but men's 4x100 flubs exchange
The members of Team USA, many of whom were making their outdoor season debut in a year in which they hope to end up in Rio de Janeiro performing at the Olympics, came through Saturday with five wins out of six races in the Penn Relays' USA vs. the World competition at Franklin Field.
The members of Team USA, many of whom were making their outdoor season debut in a year in which they hope to end up in Rio de Janeiro performing at the Olympics, came through Saturday with five wins out of six races in the Penn Relays' USA vs. the World competition at Franklin Field.
Fair or not, most of the attention on the 17th annual program featuring the world's top professional sprinters focused on the race the United States did not win - the men's 4x100 meters, where No. 3 runner Tyson Gay and anchor Isiah Young could not get together on the race's final baton exchange.
Eventually, they achieved the handoff, but they were disqualified for doing it out of the exchange zone.
The botched pass, which drew a collective groan and cheer from the crowd of 44,469, depending on whether one's loyalties were with Team USA or Jamaica, brought back bad memories of lousy exchanges in past world competitions, the most recent being at the 2015 World Track and Field Championships.
Gay, a former world-record holder in the 100, was part of that error as well as Saturday's.
"I'm a vet, and I made a rookie mistake," the 33-year-old Gay told NBC-SN. "I think I let the crowd get to me. It was exciting, and I was just worried about running fast instead of worrying about the fundamentals of making sure I got the stick in [Young's] hand. So it was my bad on that."
The network also interviewed former world-record holder Leroy Burrell, who starred at Penn Wood High School in the late 1980s. Burrell, now the head coach at Houston, criticized Team USA coaches and said a change was needed.
"I think we've had the same coaches working with these guys for many years, and we've had failure after failure," Burrell said. "So it's possible it might be time for a bit of a regime change with the leadership."
Justin Gatlin, who ran the second leg on the 4x100 team and came back to win with the 4x200 unit, was critical of Burrell's comments and said he would invite him "to come out and show us some relay tips and help us get back on track."
"Leroy has been part of a world-record team and an American record team, but he has yet to reach out to any of the individual athletes that I know of and say, 'Hey, this is what you've got to do.' Offer some kind of camaraderie or leadership," Gatlin said.
The good news for Team USA on a partly sunny but cool day was the five relay victories. The men bounced back after Jamaica's 38.70 victory in the 4x100 and took the 4x200 in 1 minute, 20.94 seconds, with Young leading off, followed by Gatlin, Wallace Spearmon, and Mike Rodgers.
Team USA ran two teams in the 4x400, and James Harris anchored USA Blue to the win in 3:02.32. USA Red, with Olympic gold medalist Jeremy Wariner, was runner-up in 3:03.73.
"The last couple of Penn Relays I've come out and laid some hot times and some hot legs on the track," Gatlin said. "This season it's more of a buildup getting ready for Olympic trials, getting ready for the Olympics."
Team USA's women swept all three of their races - the 4x100 in 42.61 seconds; the 4x200 in 1:31.17; and the 4x400, anchored by Sanya Richards-Ross in her last Penn Relays competition, in 3:26.83.
Perhaps the loudest roar of the day came in the 4x100, when Carmelita Jeter outdueled Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, winner of the last two Olympic 100-meter dashes, on the anchor.
"It's always fun to come to Penn," Jeter said. "Today I really wanted to have fun. That was one of the things we all talked about: Let's just have fun, let's go out and enjoy ourselves."
@JoeJulesinq