| EUGENE,
Oregon from AP
Tyson Gay was a blur in blue,
sprinting 100 meters faster than anyone ever has.
His time of 9.68 seconds at the
U.S. Olympic trials Sunday doesn't count as a world record because
it was run with the help of a too-strong tailwind.
Wearing a royal blue uniform
with red and white diagonal stripes across the front, along with
matching shoes, all in a tribute to 1936 Olympic star Jesse Owens,
Gay dominated the competition. He started well and pulled out to a
comfortable lead by the 40-meter mark.
This time, he kept pumping those
legs all the way through the finish line, extending his lead. In
Saturday's opening heat, Gay pulled way up, way too soon, and
nearly was caught by the field, before accelerating again and
lunging in for fourth place.
No such close call this time.
No one ever has covered 100
meters more quickly. The previous fastest time under any
conditions was 9.69, run in 1996 by Obadele Thompson.
Gay's race came with the wind
blowing at 4.1 meters per second, above the 2.0 allowed for record
purposes.
Walter Dix, the 2007 NCAA
champion from Florida State, overtook Darvis Patton in the final
20 meters for second place. Dix clocked 9.80 and Patton 9.84, as
each of the first six finalists turned in times under 10 seconds.
The world record is 9.72, set by
Jamaica's Usain Bolt on May 31 in New York -- with Gay a distant
second. That race sent Gay and his coach, Jon Drummond, to work,
tinkering with the runner's start and style.
Drummond noticed Gay was
bringing his feet too high behind his back with each stride, and
they worked to correct that. Clearly, it's paying off.
After misjudging the finish in
his opening heat Saturday, Gay ran 9.77 in a quarterfinal a few
hours later, breaking the American record that had stood since
1999.
He's hoping to win both the 100
and 200 at this meet -- and at the Beijing Olympics. He pulled off
that double at the 2007 world championships, and qualifying at
these trials in the 200 begins Friday. |
