Carl Lewis 'Furious' over USA DQ in Men's 4x100m Relay at Olympics After Lyles' Exit

After Team USA fell short once again in the 4x100 relay at the Paris Olympics, former track great Carl Lewis voiced his opinion on the United States' shortcomings.

Lewis, a nine-time gold medalist, was frustrated with both the system as well as the team's plan of attack after star Noah Lyles was forced to miss the event due to COVID-19.

NBC's Lewis Johnson said the following about his conversation with Lewis:

"A few moments ago I talked with Olympic legend Carl Lewis, who was down here just a few feet away from me as the men's 4x100-meter relay was contested. Carl is furious. He's angry about multiple things. First of all, he's angry about a system that he says is not set up to help the athletes from the United States move forward and do well. He is also angry at the fact that they just didn't seem to have the right people in the right places. He said that if Noah Lyles is out sick with COVID, they should have just replaced the anchor leg and nothing else. But the fact that they reordered the entire relay had him worried, and at the end had him upset." "

The United States finished seventh in the 4x100 relay on Friday but was ultimately disqualified after a botched first handoff between Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek. Coleman was outside of the handoff zone when he made the exchange to Bednarek, but even before the disqualification, the team was too far behind to mount a comeback.

The United States hasn't medaled in the event since 2004 and hasn't won gold since 2000. Since then, passing the baton has proved to be a consistent issue.

In 2008, Darvis Patton and Tyson Gay fumbled the exchange heading into the last leg of the semifinal race, costing the U.S. a spot in the final. In 2016, the United States finished in position for a bronze medal, but was disqualified after the exchange between Mike Rodgers and Justin Gatlin occurred outside of the designated zone.

The Tokyo Olympics saw the United States fail to make it past its preliminary heat because of another bungled baton exchange, this time between Fred Kerley and Ronnie Baker.

Lewis later doubled down on his statement, expressing his issues with the system on X.

Whether the United States will listen to Lewis, who won gold in the 4x100-relay twice, is to be determined, but it's clear something needs to change before Los Angeles in 2028.