Tyson Gay: Sprint in his steps

Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsSurname
Gay
Firstname
Tyson
Country
United States
Date of birth
1982-08-09
Birthplace
Lexington
Height
183 cm
Weight
75.0 kg
Discipline
100m, 200m
World Championships (3 medals -3 gold)
100m: 1st (2007)200m: 1st (2007)4x100m relay : 1st (2007)
Tyson triple KO's all comers
Sprint sensation Tyson Gay entered an elite club of just three triple champions at the 2007 world championships to join Maurice Greene and Carl Lewis when winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m in Osaka.
Out in Beijing the spotlight will now be firmly focussed on the American rather than his chief rival and 100m world record holder the Jamaican Asafa Powell, whom he beat into third in Japan.
Even Powell's countryman Usain Bolt, the 100m world record holder does not frighten Gay who recorded a wind-aided time of 9.68 and another chrono of 9.77 at the US trials, just one month ahead of Beijing.
While Bolt has ran .05secs quicker and Powell has stopped the clock .03secs faster than Gay, that will count for nothing when the gun goes in the Olympic final, should all three as expected qualify.
Gay came from behind to overtake a panicked Powell in Osaka and win the 100m in 9.85sec, he also beat Michael Johnson's championships record with 19.76sec in the final of the 200m and described the US gold in the 4x100m as the icing on the cake because he won it with his team.
There was a lot of talk about Gay breaking Johnson's mythical 200m record of 19.32sec at Beijing but disaster struck at the US Olympic trials when he failed to finish the 200m final after breaking down with cramps.
He first proved he could pack a punch with the heavyweights of world sprinting in 2006 as he bludgeoned his way to the top with a relentless series of lightening times throughout the season.
In his breakthrough year of 2005, Gay had threatened to win the 200m at the world championships in Helsinki when setting a blistering semi-final pace to go into the last-8 as the fastest man and ahead of race favourite Justin Gatlin.
Clean but neither lean nor mean
But his inexperience hamstrung him on the big day as Gatlin stormed to gold ahead of Wallace Spearmon and John Capel. Gay's fourth place finish however made it the first world track event where competitors from a single nation took the top four places.
Not that the lack of a medal bothered him, he says his faith in God helps him accept defeats in the same manner of victories and that at that stage having won neither a major competition nor set a world record he had no room for arrogance.
In the face of Justin Gatlin's doping problems Gay says God is his own doping product, that he has come this far clean and will continue in that manner.
Gay is a Kentucky native and was American University 100m champion in 2004.
He is a marketing graduate whose bulky frame pays testament to his love for American football as a schoolboy but whose side interests now include vintage cars; he is the proud owner of a 1970 Plymouth Satellite.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - AFP)first published:August 01, 2008, 18:07 ISTlast updated:August 01, 2008, 18:07 IST
window._taboola = window._taboola || [];_taboola.push({mode: 'thumbnails-mid-article',container: 'taboola-mid-article-thumbnails',placement: 'Mid Article Thumbnails',target_type: 'mix'});
let eventFire = false;
window.addEventListener('scroll', () => {
if (window.taboolaInt && !eventFire) {
setTimeout(() => {
ga('send', 'event', 'Mid Article Thumbnails', 'PV');
ga('set', 'dimension22', "Taboola Yes");
}, 4000);
eventFire = true;
}
});
 
window._taboola = window._taboola || [];_taboola.push({mode: 'thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails', placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails', target_type: 'mix' });Latest News