TOKYO — That was embarrassing.
There's no other way to put it, no sugar-coating or sunny side.
It was embarrassing.
And it spoke volumes about the state of the U.S. men's sprinting.
On Thursday, the men's heats of the 4x100-meter relay were run to whittle the field of 16 down to eight for the medal race.
And the United States men didn't qualify.
Over the last 30 years the U.S. men's 4x100 team has been a carnival of mistakes at the two major international events, the Olympics and World Championships: dropped batons, end-of-exchange-zone violations, beginning-of-exchange-zone violations, one weird one when a runner in another lane ran into an American and injured him.