U.S. speedsters blanked; Jamaicans dominating

Dropped batons eliminated two American relay teams.

BEIJING (AP) — Tyson Gay stuck his left hand behind him, waiting to feel the red baton’s cool metal make contact.

Still waiting, Gay looked ahead and began to take off. Now accelerating, he glanced back at Darvis Patton, his U.S. teammate in a 400-meter relay preliminary heat. A moment later, Patton let go of the stick, and Gay squeezed his hand shut — empty.

Gay never did feel that baton Thursday night, never did get to run his anchor leg, never did get to even compete in a final at the Beijing Olympics, much less win a medal, let alone gold. Instead, the stick slammed to the wet track, a not-so-subtle symbol of American favorites’ foibles at the Bird’s Nest.

“I feel like I let my teammates down,” Gay said. “It’s kind of the way it’s been happening for me this Olympics.”

Usain Bolt and the rest of the Jamaican team keeps running circles around everyone, adding yet another gold Thursday when Veronica Campbell-Brown won her second consecutive Olympic 200-meter title.

The United States, meanwhile, keeps falling short of expectations. For the first time in Summer Games history, the U.S. will leave an Olympics 0-for-6 in the sprint races: the men’s and women’s 100s, 200s and 400 relays.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s our meet,” said Allyson Felix, runner-up to Campbell-Brown in 2004 and this time.

The sprint shutout was assured when, less than a half-hour after the Patton-to-Gay gaffe — and at the same curve in the track — U.S. women’s relay anchor Lauryn Williams couldn’t get her hand around the baton Torri Edwards was trying to pass along.

An all-around dismal display, prompting new USA Track & Field CEO Doug Logan to promise “a comprehensive review” of the way the federation does things — including, he pointed out, “the way we select, train and coach our relays.”

It didn’t go unnoticed that Gay didn’t participate in the team’s pre-Olympics training camp in China. Gay said he and Patton practiced exchanges in Beijing and didn’t miss a one.

Relay preliminaries are supposed to be perfunctory for the United States: gimmes, like the layup line before an NBA game, batting practice at a major league ballpark. Setting aside the boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics, you have to go back to 1948 for the last time the U.S. women failed to reach the 400 relay final; 1912 and 1988 were the only previous times it happened to the men.

“Heartbreaking,” Edwards said.

And Jamaica? The Caribbean island of about 2.8 million people, roughly the population of Chicago, is the first country to sweep the four individual sprint gold medals at an Olympics since the United States did it in 1988.

“This Olympics is the Jamaican Olympics, no disrespect to the Americans,” said Kerron Stewart, who earned a silver in the 100 Sunday, then a bronze in the 200. “Dominating like we are, it’s no surprise. I know it’s been crazy, because we’ve been on the podium a lot.”

The only nation that has gone 6-for-6 in Olympic sprint races was the United States at the 1984 Los Angeles Games boycotted by the Soviet Union.

That sort of perfection appears to be a distinct possibility for the Jamaicans, led by Bolt — who won the 100 and 200, both in world-record time — and Asafa Powell in the men’s relay, and the trio of 100 medalists plus Campbell-Brown in the women’s.

“They brought their ‘A’ game. I don’t know where we left ours,” said Williams.