The United States will conduct a post-mortem into a disappointing Olympic athletics performance that has seen US sprinters eclipsed by their Jamaican rivals, the chief executive officer of USA Track & Field said.

"Once the Games are complete we will be conducting a comprehensive review of all our programs," Doug Logan said in a statement.

A miserable Games for a team that billed itself the world's best was highlighted by relay botches by both the men's and women's 4x100m teams on Thursday night.

Torri Edwards of the US (C) reacts as teammate Lauryn Williams (L) runs for the baton as they compete against Belarus' Anna Bagdanovich (R) during the women's 4x100m Relay round 1 heat at the National stadium as part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 21, 2008. [Agencies]

"I, like all fans of Team USA, am extremely disappointed with the performance of our relays," Logan said, after the US men's and women's 4x100 teams dropped batons in Thursday's opening relay rounds.

Logan said the review would be comprehensive, looking at all USA Track & Field's high performance programs.

On the relay, he add: "This assessment will be the way in which we select, train and coach our relays."

It is the first time since 1976 that the US has competed and failed to win a sprint title at a Games. The Americans led the medals table at the 2004 Olympics and 2005 and 2007 World Championships.

Jamaican athletes swept all four individual sprints, with Usain Bolt setting world records in the men's 100 and 200m.

"They (Jamaica) brought their A-game. I don't know where we left ours," said Lauryn Williams, who was involved in the women's botched relay exchange and missed out on a 100m medal after taking silver in 2004.

US world champions were hard hit by the doom and gloom.

Men's 100 and 200m world champion Tyson Gay, still recovering from a hamstring injury at the US Olympic trials, went out of the 100m in the semifinals.

Then a botched relay, in which teammate Darvis Patton and Gay failed to connect, added further frustration.

World women's 200m winner Allyson Felix and 400m favorite Sanya Richards also missed gold.

World 1,500m winner Bernard Lagat, a two-time Olympic medalist for Kenya, missed the final this time, his first in a US vest. He will seek redemption in Saturday's 5,000m, where he is also the world champion.

The setbacks have implications beyond athletics, wiping out any chance the US might have had of catching China for the Games' overall gold medals lead.