It’s Always Something

Clipped hurdles. Lane violations and DQs. Leading in the final turn only to come up empty in the homestretch.

And the most egregious offense of all, the one that symbolizes everything that could possibly go wrong–dropped batons by both the men and the women in the 4 x 100 relay.

For the U.S. Track and Field team in this Olympiad, it’s like Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say: “It just goes to show you, it’s always something.”

U.S. Track and Field has heard the great hue and cry of the American people and responded.

Still, a little perspective is in order. We will finish with more medals in track and field, probably at least twice as many, as the second-best team. Our medal count will be as high or higher than Atlanta in ’96 or Sidney in ’00. We swept the men’s 400. The women have already won 8 medals which exceeds their winnings in any of the previous 3 Olympics.

And then there’s Bryan Clay (more on him in a following post).

Poor luck and timing will always be a factor in any competition, but dropped batons are a result of poor execution and preparation–both problems that can, and should, be fixed before “something” happens again.