Carl Lewis blasts US sprint relay performance at Olympics as ‘total embarrassment’
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.
Nine-time Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis said on Twitter: “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.”
It marks the first time since 2008 that the US men’s 4x100m relay team will not run in an Olympic final.
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.
Carl Lewis won nine Olympic gold medals during a glittering athletics career. Pic: Action Images
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.”
Team GB are through to Friday’s final after finishing second in their heat, behind Jamaica.
So far the US men’s team has only won one athletics gold medal at the Games, courtesy of Ryan Crouser in the shotput.
In contrast, the American women have dazzled, winning four golds so far.
China won the heat while the US was sixth. Pic: AP
Sydney McLaughlin broke her own world record to win the 400m hurdles and Athing Mu delivered a first US 800m gold since 1968.
There were also golds in the women’s discus and the pole vault.
However, the US men’s 4x400m relay team has a chance of gold. America has won that event at seven of the last nine Olympics.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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