By Luciana Chavez | Raleigh News & Observer

BEIJING — They dropped the stick.

In the process, the men's and women's 400-meter relay teams for the United States watched a long, dominant history of American sprint relay teams slip further from their grasp at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday night at the Bird's Nest.

The U.S. men, winners of 15 gold medals in the event but who did not win gold in 2004 in Athens, did not finish their heat on Thursday. The U.S. women were disqualified for passing the stick beyond the passing zone in Athens in 2004 and did not finish after dropping it in Beijing in 2008.

The U.S. men's 400-meter relay team won't even get a chance to prove they can hang with a Jamaican sprint team that has dominated these games behind Usain Bolt's reputation-making performances, in Friday's finals.

The U.S. did not finish after Darvis Patton and Tyson Gay fumbled the exchange between the third and anchor legs of Thursday's first semifinal heat.

Patton had given the U.S. a bit of cushion coming off the corner as Gay started running. But it appeared that, after Patton extended his arm with the baton, he let it go too early, Gay grasped at it too late and the stick hit the track.

"They say if it hits your hand you should have it. I take the blame for it," Gay said. "I'm a veteran. I've never dropped the stick in my life. It's upsetting."

Gay said he thought Patton was still coming and by the time he closed his hand they'd dropped it.

"At practice, the past week since the 100, we've had great sticks but that's the way it's been happening to me at the Olympics," Gay said. "It was my fault. I feel like I let them down."

Travis Padgett had to wait two weeks before running this one leg of this one race. Padgett ran a fast second leg for the U.S., which had eventual heat winner Trinidad & Tobago running hard two lanes over on their outside shoulder.

"The frustrating thing is we felt so good coming out," he said. "We had the lead after the first three legs and I was about ready to put my hands up."

"We trained hard. We were going for the world record and the gold," Padgett said.

Trinidad & Tobago had the fastest time at 38.26 seconds; Jamaica, running without Bolt in the other semifinal heat, ran it in 38.31.

In the women's race, the U.S. had the season's best time coming into the race, but Torri Edwards and Lauryn Williams mishandled their exchange between the third and anchor legs.

Williams bravely went back for the baton and finished the race as Edwards grimaced and held her face.

Jamaica led the semifinal heats with a time of 42.24, a season best. Russia was second at 42.87.

The male sprinters from the United States continue to fight the odd and the unexpected at the Olympics.

It began when Gay failed to qualify in the 100-meter sprint after slowing too early in his semifinal last week.

During the 200-meter men's final, American Wallace Spearmon was disqualified for stepping out of his lane, putting his U.S. teammates Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix in line to claim silver and bronze behind Bolt.

Meanwhile, Bolt has led an outstanding crop of Jamaican sprinters by winning gold in world record times in both the 100 and 200.