#Romneyshambles: 'Some Americans just shouldn't leave the country', says Carl Lewis

"Stay home if you don't know what to say," says nine-times gold medal winning sprinter

Former American sprinter and gold medal winner Carl Lewis today waded into the row over Mitt Romney's comments about London's preparedness for the Olympics.

Lewis, who won 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold during his career, criticised the presidential candidate for suggesting London may not be ready for the Olympics.

Mr Romney faced widespread criticism and mockery yesterday for his comments - and for seemingly forgetting the Labour leader Ed Miliband's name during a press conference.

Much of the criticism came from the social networking site Twitter - with many users tagging comments about Romney with the hashtag #romneyshambles.

Carl Lewis, who spoke to The Independent as the First Lady, Michelle Obama, arrived in London to lead the US delegation, said: "Every Olympics is ready, I don't care whatever he [Romney] said. I swear, sometimes I think some Americans shouldn't leave the country. Are you kidding me, stay home if you don't know what to say."