Gay registers shock with 9.68
Wind-aided 100 puts him in Games
EUGENE, Ore. - When Tyson Gay crossed the finish line in the men's 100 meters yesterday, the crowd at Hayward Field gasped. The clock displayed 9.68 seconds. Everyone at the US Olympic track and field trials knew what that meant.
Gay ran the fastest 100 ever, regardless of conditions. When the public address announcer reported a tailwind of 4.1 meters per second (9.5 miles per hour), the crowd groaned, knowing Gay did not break the world record of 9.72 set by Jamaican Usain Bolt May 31. But a stronger wind than the allowable 2.0 m.p.s. did not diminish the accomplishment or the astonishment.
"I was excited when I saw the time," said Gay. "I didn't know if it was going to be windy or not. I did feel the wind picking up a bit. At the same time, I was just basically going for the victory. How can I describe it? I felt like I was pressing a little bit, then I tried to relax toward the end. There are still some things I can work on."
Gay's coach and two-time Olympian John Drummond agreed, but also sounded somewhat giddy about the time.
"I don't know if he's going to be able to walk tomorrow," said Drummond. "This dude needs some re-entry glasses. We need to get some type of flame-retardant uniform in case he catches on fire, he's running so doggone fast."
Recent Florida State graduate and 2007 NCAA champion Walter Dix finished second in 9.8. Dix said his decision to skip the 2007 World Championships and return for a final year of college competition was the right one. Darvis Patton secured the final spot on the Olympic team with a time of 9.84.
"It all happened so quick," said Dix. "When you are running, you can't tell anything. I just ran to win and all I could think of when I saw the time was, 'That's pretty fast.' "
Just when Bolt appeared poised to dominate the Olympics, reigning world champion Gay reasserted his presence in stunning fashion this weekend. On Saturday, he set an American record (9.77) in the quarterfinals. It is the fifth-fastest time ever. In the quarterfinal and final, Gay made his historic times look easy. Gay figures a legal run in the 9.6-second range is coming for the world's top sprinters.
"I'm pretty sure people are going to start stepping down to that area, but I am glad my body went that fast. I do believe with a one-point-something wind I can do it. Because when I ran 9.77, it felt so good and I relaxed and I didn't press anymore and I could have gone faster then."
Gay's runs came after an embarrassing start to qualifying, when he misjudged the finish line in his first race. That mental mistake appeared to sharpen his focus through the remaining rounds. When asked what was going through his mind midway through the final, Gay said, "Make sure I run to the second white line." Neither Gay nor Drummond was focused on the time.
"This is probably the toughest race he'll run all year," said Drummond. "This is the hardest team to make. I never in my life felt beat up until after the trials. That first round was a little scary for us, but he learned. Running rounds, you have a plan going in. He did exactly what I asked him to do. The time was what it was. You take those races when they come.
"In hindsight, I would have said, 'Run through the finish line [in the quarterfinal],' but he didn't and he still broke the American record. Our focus was how do we beat seven people every round and how can we be efficient every round?"
Gay will start qualifying for the 200 meters Friday. Now, the big questions are how fast will his body recover from yesterday's effort and how fast can he go at that distance? After the 100 final, Gay said his body was sore, but probably because of the victory lap. The remark brought laughter, but he seemed serious. Before yesterday, Barbadian Obadele Thompson had run the fastest time (9.69) at altitude with a wind in excess of 5 m.p.s. It took him about a week to recover enough to work out again.
"I think they can go faster," said former Olympian and current assistant Olympic coach Harvey Glance. "If you saw how close that race was from first, second, and third and the fact that the two other guys from Jamaica [Bolt and Asafa Powell] have run pretty close to that time, who knows what might happen [in Beijing]. Sprinting is about emotions. I think one of the reasons they run fast here is the closeness the athletes feel to [the fans]. When I saw the 9.77, I knew it was going to be a fast race . . . I'm excited to see if that 100 meters translate to the 200 meters."
