Dropped baton drops U.S. from 400 relay

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August 21, 2008

By EDDIE PELLS The Tribune-Democrat Thu Aug 21, 2008, 08:13 PM EDT

BEIJING — With the clank of a baton, the American track team suffered an unexpected disappointment Thursday night at the Olympics.

Another disappointment, that is.

Darvis Patton and Tyson Gay misconnected on the final pass in preliminaries of the 400-meter relay, knocking the U.S. team out and meaning Gay will leave Beijing not just empty-handed, but without even running in a final.

“I take full blame for it,” Gay said. “I kind of feel I let them down.”

Had they advanced, the Americans may not have been favored to win gold considering the world records Jamaica’s Usain Bolt has set in the 100 and 200 over the past week at the Bird’s Nest. Still, it would have been an interesting race.

Not anymore.

And yet another gold medal opportunity slipped away for the American team.

Moments before the relay, American Allyson Felix finished second behind Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown in the women’s 200, adding her name to a long list of U.S. favorites who have failed.

Felix (200), Gay (100, 200), Bernard Lagat (1,500), Brad Walker (pole vault) and Reese Hoffa (shot put) are American world champions who failed to win gold in their events this year. Lolo Jones and Sanya Richards were other American favorites who came up short.

Now the relay team, which failed to reach the Olympic final for the first time since 1912.

For teams like the United States, first-round relay heats are supposed to be about as routine as making the bed, filled with safe passes and no risks.

Things were going smoothly for the United States through the first two legs. But when Patton closed in on Gay and Gay reached backward, they couldn’t connect. Patton made a final lunge to get the stick to Gay before he ran out of the passing zone, but as Gay’s hand closed, the stick wasn’t in it. It bounced off the rain-slickened track, and the crowd gasped.

Patton leaned over and retrieved the stick. He and Gay spoke. Gay walked away, then Travis Padgett came over to talk to Patton, who carried the baton off the track to make room for the next race.

Gay said he felt the baton.

“Then I went to grab it and there was nothing,” he said. “It’s kind of the way it’s been happening to me this Olympics.”

Indeed, Gay may not have even been running in the first round had he done better in the men’s 100. But he failed to make it out of semifinals — a stunner of sorts and a sign that the hamstring he hurt at Olympic trials may not be fully healed.

Gay skipped the American training camp in Dalian, China, earlier this month where the team spent two long sessions working on handoffs. American coaches said it was no big deal. Gay said he and Patton worked on exchanges in Beijing and didn’t miss a single handoff in practice.

Patton said he was every bit as much to blame.

“That’s Tyson Gay. He’s a humble guy, but I know it’s my job to get the guy the baton and I didn’t do that.”

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