U.s. 4x100m Teams Both Drop Batons

The Beijing Olympic track meet has turned into a downright disaster for the American Team especially when their 4x100m teams dropped the batons.

Darvis Patton and Tyson Gay misconnected on the final pass in preliminaries of the 400-meter relay Thursday. Then, Torri Edwards and Lauryn Williams had the same plight for the women's team.

Two gold-medal contenders from the U.S. didn't even advance to the finals. Two more chances for the American track team to turn around a disappointing Olympics were lost on the rain-soaked track at the Bird's Nest.

"I take full blame for it," Gay said of his bad exchange with Patton. "I kind of feel I let them down."

Failing to receive the baton means Gay, the defending world champion in the 100 and 200, will leave China not just empty-handed, but without even running in a final.

And Williams will be remembered notoriously as the American involved in not one but two faulty Olympic exchanges that cost her team medals. In 2004, she misconnected with Marion Jones in the final and Team USA were disqualified for making the exchange outside the 20-meter handoff zone.

"If people want to assess the blame to me, that's OK," Williams said. "I mean, I can take whatever it is that people are going to dish out. We had good chemistry. The hand was back there. She was there. I don't know what happened."

Even if they had advanced in either race, the Americans may not still been favored to win gold considering the world records Jamaica's Usain Bolt has set over the past week at the Bird's Nest and the way Jamaica has owned the women's sprints as well.

Still, they would have been very interesting races. But not anymore.

Updated statistics: The men's relay team failed to reach the Olympic final for the first time since 1988, while the women missed for the first time since 1948.

For previous dominating teams like the United States, first-round relay heats are supposed to be about as routine as making the bed, filled with safe passes and no risks.

Just a preview: things were going smoothly for the United States through the first two legs in the men's race. But when Patton closed in on Gay and Gay reached backward, they couldn't connect. Patton made a final lunge to hand the stick to Gay before he go over the passing zone, but as Gay's hand closed, the stick wasn't in it. And the crowd gasped as it bounced off the rain-slickened track.

Disappointment was probably spilling over when Patton leaned over and retrieved the stick. He and Gay exchanged thoughts. Gay walked away, then Travis Padgett came over to talk to Patton, who carried the baton off the track, clearing for the next race.

"I felt the baton, then I went to grab it and there was nothing," he said. "It's kind of the way it's been happening to me this Olympics."

The women sprinters were also in good shape heading into the final exchange, but Williams didn't receive the baton from Edwards. It fell to the ground as Edwards yelled and covered her face with her hands. Williams went back to pick it up and finished the race -- but the Americans were dead last.

Gay, meanwhile, may not have even been running in the first round had he performed better in the men's 100. But he didn't qualify for the semifinals -- a stunner of sorts and a sign that the hamstring he hurt at Olympic trials may not be fully healed.

Gay skipped the American training camp in Dalian, China, earlier this month where the team spent two long sessions working on handoffs. Team USA coaches said it was no big deal. Gay said he and Patton worked on exchanges in Beijing and didn't miss a single handoff in practice.

“I was every bit as much to blame,” said Patton "That's Tyson Gay, he's a humble guy, but I know it's my job to get the guy the baton and I didn't do that."