GB 4x100m relay team botch handover
European Athletics Championships 2010
Venue: Barcelona Dates: 27 July - 1 August
Coverage: Watch live on BBC HD, BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Sport website (UK users only); Live coverage on BBC Radio 5 live; Full highlights on iPlayer and highlights of the biggest events on demand online (UK only)
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Mark Lewis-Francis accepted the blame after his error saw Great Britain exit the 4x100m relay in the first round at the European Athletics Championships.
Lewis-Francis, who won silver in the 100m, failed to collect the baton cleanly from Marlon Devonish and GB could only finish fifth in their heat.
"This is my fault, I've let the guys down," an emotional Lewis-Francis told the BBC. "Wow, it's such a big blow.
"I apologise sincerely to all the guys, I just cannot believe that happened."
Lewis-Francis was on the final leg of the relay and GB, heavily tipped to win a medal in Barcelona, were in a strong position after good runs from Leon Baptiste, Craig Pickering and Devonish.
But Lewis-Francis could only grab at thin air as he tried to take the baton from Devonish and by the time he could collect it, GB had slipped from first to fifth. Their eventual time of 39.49 seconds was not good enough to secure a fastest losers' place in the final.
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606: DEBATE
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"I just didn't react," said Lewis-Francis. "We had a good spirit in the camp and I've got to take this on my shoulders, I just did not get out at all.
"I really feel it for the guys, they have been waiting for two weeks for this run."
Devonish added: "I thought there was no-one around me when I came round the bend. Let's do a proper analysis later, but there's no hiding from it that that was a bad changeover.
"We expect to medal at the Euros, of course we do because we pick up medals at the Worlds a fair bit. I'm bitterly disappointed, but let's not put it all on Mark's head. We're here as a team."
BBC Sport pundit Michael Johnson was left stunned by GB's failure to progress. "It's a very simple thing at the end of the day," said Johnson.
"We've had the same problem in the US, but it's just unbelievable. In the early stages of a competition, the handouts should all be done safely."
It is not the first time British sprinters have squandered chances of medals in the relay. There were dropped batons at the Olympics in Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000), as well as the World Championships in Edmonton (2001), along with a disqualification at the last Olympics in Beijing in 2008.
GB's women fared no better, two poor handouts costing them dearly as Joice Maduaka, Montell Douglas, Hayley Jones and Laura Turner could only finish sixth in their heat in a time of 44.09 seconds as they also failed to qualify for the final.
In the other women's 4x100m heat, legendary sprinter Merlene Ottey became the oldest athlete to compete at the European Championships at the age of 50.
Ottey, a naturalized Slovenian of Jamaican origin, surpassed the record previously held by 47-year-old French marathon runner Nicole Brakebusch-Leveque as she anchored the Slovenian team to a time of 44.30 seconds that saw them finish seventh.
Saturday's timetable and results in full from European Athletics
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