Athletics superstar Carl Lewis has criticised the US men’s 4x100m relay team, calling their performance a “total embarrassment” after failing to qualify for the final at the Tokyo Olympics.
They only finished sixth in their heat which was won by China.
This was despite the US team having stars including individual 100m silver medallist Fred Kerley, Ronnie Baker who came fifth in that final, and Trayvon Bromell who has the fastest time of the year so far at 9.77 seconds.
During the heat, Kerley and Baker got tangled up in a poor baton exchange, costing them precious time before Cravon Gillespie ran the anchor leg.
The USA team did everything wrong in the men’s relay. The passing system is wrong, athletes running the wrong legs, and it was clear that there was no leadership. It was a total embarrassment, and completely unacceptable for a USA team to look worse than the AAU kids I saw .
Nine-time Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis said on Twitter: “The USA team did everything wrong in the men’s relay.
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“The passing system is wrong, athletes running the wrong legs, and it was clear that there was no leadership. It was a total embarrassment.”
It marks the first time since 2008 that the US men’s 4x100m relay team will not run in an Olympic final.
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Five years ago at the Rio Games they were disqualified for a faulty baton exchange.
Speaking on Thursday, Baker told reporters the team had little time to practice.
But former American sprint champion Michael Johnson, who has four Olympic gold medals, was critical in a Twitter message directed at governing body USA Track & Field: “This isn’t rocket science @usatf.”
“Trying to get two people running full speed to exchange a baton within a 20 meter zone requires practice! Especially, when you haven’t won this event since Sydney 2000 due to drops and zone violations! Embarrassing and ridiculous.”
This isn’t rocket science @usatf Trying to get two people running full speed to exchange a baton within a 20 meter zone requires practice! Especially when you haven’t won this event since Sydney 2000 due to drops and zone violations! Embarrassing and ridiculous. https://t.co/WDqu6okUen
Arthur Aidala, Weinstein’s lawyer, said his client was moved to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for tests after his arrival on Friday at a New York City prison.
“They examined him and sent him to Bellevue. It seems like he needs a lot of help, physically. He’s got a lot of problems. He’s getting all kinds of tests. He’s somewhat of a train wreck health-wise,” Mr Aidala said.
The hospital did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Mr Aidala said he is still “sharp as a tack” mentally, and his health problems are physical.
Weinstein has had cardiac issues, diabetes, sleep apnea and eye problems for some time.
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He was moved on Friday to the Rikers Island jail complex, in The Bronx’s East River, from the Mohawk Correctional Facility, in Oneida County, upstate New York, where he had been since 2023.
“He was not treated well. They refused to give him even a sip of water, no food, no bathroom break,” said Mr Aidala.
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“He’s a 72-year-old sickly man.”
Frank Dwyer, a spokesperson with the New York City Department of Correction, said Weinstein remains in custody at Bellevue Hospital.
The disgraced producer has been in prison since 2020 and on Thursday, the New York Court of Appeals overturned his first rape conviction.
He has been serving a 23-year sentence after being accused of sexually assaulting ex-production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006 and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 following the landmark 2020 trialin New York.
The state’s highest court found the judge at the trial prejudiced Weinstein with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that were not part of the case.
In a 4-3 decision, the court’s majority said it was “an abuse of judicial discretion to permit untested allegations of nothing more than bad behaviour”.
Mr Aidala said the decision was a victory for the defendant and any American charged with a crime, “no matter how popular or unpopular they are”.
“You can’t convict someone based on their entire life,” he said.
“You can’t allow more witnesses to testify against the defendant than the defendant is actually charged with.”
“You can’t throw out a hundred years of legal precedent because someone is unpopular.”
Weinstein remains in jail despite the recent ruling because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape, against which he is also appealing. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison for that crime.
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Me Too founder ‘devastated’ by Weinstein decision
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg – who is already involved in a hush money trial against former president Donald Trump – will now decide whether Weinstein will face a retrial for his 2020 conviction.
A spokesperson for Mr Bragg said in an email: “We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault.”
Weinstein is scheduled to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court at 2.15pm (local time) on Wednesday in a hearing that will set a timetable for future appearances, assuming the retrial goes ahead.
Deborah Tuerkheimer, a professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and former assistant district attorney in Manhattan, said whether there is a second trial will “hinge on the preferences of the women who would have to testify again and endure the ordeal of a retrial.”
“I think ultimately this will come down to whether they feel it’s something they want to do, are able to do,” she said.
Once considered the most powerful man in Hollywood, Weinstein was accused by dozens of women who claimed he bullied, pressured, coerced, or overpowered them while demanding sexual favours.
Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek, and Lupita Nyong’o all accused Weinstein of sexual harassment, while actresses Asia Argento and Rose McGowan were among others who accused him of raping them.
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He was also accused of reaching settlements to keep the stories quiet.
Weinstein had admitted his behaviour had “caused a lot of pain”, but has maintained his innocence throughout, saying any sexual activity was consensual.
Hundreds of homes have been damaged and nearly 10,000 are without power after a tornado smashed through parts of Omaha, in the US state of Nebraska.
A number of tornadoes were reported in the state but the worst hit the suburbs to the northwest of the city, which has a population of 485,000.
The homes damaged were mostly in the Elkhorn area, police said, and emergency workers were going door-to-door to help people trapped in the debris.
Elkhorn residents Pat and Kim Woods said they took shelter when the tornado was about 200 yards away.
“We could hear it coming through,” Mr Woods said.
“When we came up, our fence was gone and we looked to the northwest and the whole neighbourhood’s gone.”
Mrs Woods added: “The whole neighbourhood just to the north of us is pretty flattened.”
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But while some homes in the area were destroyed, others appeared untouched.
There were no reports of deaths but a number of people suffered minor injuries, according to Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer, who added: “People had warnings of this and that saved lives.”
One of the other tornados passed through parts of Eppley Airfield, the city’s airport, which was closed for almost an hour.
Passengers were sent to storm shelters, according to Omaha Airport Authority Chief Strategy Officer Steve McCoy.
The terminal was not affected but other airport buildings “sustained damage”.
The airport has now reopened, although flight delays are expected late into Friday.
The tornado then crossed the Missouri River into Iowa, where damage reports are still coming through.
Daniel Fienhold, who owns a steakhouse in Crescent, Iowa, said he watched the weather from outside with his daughter and employees.
“It started raining, and then it started hailing, and then all the clouds started to kind of swirl and come together, and as soon as the wind started to pick up, that’s when I headed for the basement, but we never saw it,” he said.
Three workers at an industrial plant were injured when another tornado struck near the Nebraska city of Lincoln on Friday afternoon.
The building collapsed with around 70 people inside and several had to be rescued from the debris.
The weekend is not likely to bring any relief – The Weather Service has issued tornado watches across parts of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
Student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza continue to spread across the US, following last week’s arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University.
There have been nearly 550 protest-related arrests in the past week at major US universities, according to a tally by news agency Reuters.
The students want universities to cut ties with companies helping Israel’s war in Gaza and, in some cases, with Israel itself.
Some universities have called in police to end the demonstrations, resulting in clashes and arrests, while others appear to be biding their time as the academic semester enters its final days.
The University of Southern California cancelled its main graduation ceremony, set for 10 May, after the arrests of 93 people at the Los Angeles campus on Wednesday.
At Boston’s Emerson College, 108 people were arrested overnight with video showing students linking arms to resist officers, who then moved forcefully through the crowd, throwing some students to the ground.
Student protester Ocean Muir said: “There were just more cops on all sides.
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“It felt like we were being slowly pushed in and crushed.”
She said police lifted her by her arms and legs to carry her away and she was charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct.
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At Emory University’s Atlanta campus, 28 people were detained and the local branch of activist group Jewish Voice For Peace said police used tear gas and tasers on protesters.
Police there admitted using “chemical irritants” but denied using rubber bullets.
Cheryl Elliott, Emory’s vice president for public safety, said the aim was to clear the area of a “disruptive encampment while holding individuals accountable to the law” but human rights groups questioned the “apparent use of excessive force” against free speech.
Charges were dropped, meanwhile, against 46 of the 60 people detained by police at the University of Texas.
At Indiana University Bloomington, police with shields and batons shoved into a line of protesters, arresting 33 people.
At City College of New York, police officers retreated from protests, to cheers from the hundreds of students gathered on the lawn on the Harlem campus.
At California State Polytechnic University in Humboldt, students have been barricaded in a campus building since Monday, with staff trying to negotiate.
At University of Connecticut one protester was arrested and tents torn down, while protests continued at Stanford University and the New Jersey campus of Princeton University.
Police cleared tents and arrested more than 100 people last week but students put the tents up again in an area where graduation ceremonies will be held in a few weeks.
The administration has given protesters until Friday to leave.
There have been accusations that some pro-Palestinian protesters have harassed or abused Jewish students but protesters blame outsiders trying to infiltrate and malign their movement.
Protest leaders admit there has been abuse directed at Jewish students but insist the protests are not antisemitic.
Some of the universities have seen counter-protests from Israel supporters.