Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is an American track and field sprint athlete who competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the American record and makes him the second fastest athlete ever. His 200 m time of 19.58 makes him the 5th fastest athlete in that event. In 2008, he ran a 100m in 9.68, then the fastest time in history, but was prevented from a world record because it was wind-assisted.
Gay has won numerous medals in major international competitions, including a gold medal sweep of the 100 m, 200 m and 4×100 meters relay at the 2007 Osaka World Championships. This made him the second man to win all three events at the same World Championships, after Maurice Greene. He is a three-time U.S. champion in the 100 m.
At the 2008 Olympic Trials, Gay suffered a severe hamstring injury in the 200 m event. The injury persisted and this contributed to his failure to win a single medal at the Beijing Olympics. As a participant in the US Anti-Doping Agency's "Project Believe" program, Gay is regularly tested to ensure that his system is clean of performance-enhancing drugs.
His performance of 9.71 seconds to win the 100 m silver medal in the 2009 World Championships is the fastest non-winning time for the event. Tyson Gay (along with Asafa Powell and Yohan Blake) is one of the only three sprinters who have defeated Usain Bolt over 100 m. Gay ran a wind assisted 9.68 at the 2008 US Olympic trials.
Early life
Born on August 9, 1982 in Lexington, Kentucky, Tyson Gay is the only son of Daisy Gay and Greg Mitchell. Athletic prowess was part of family life; Gay's grandmother ran for Eastern Kentucky University and his mother Daisy also competed in her youth, though she was pregnant with her first child by her early teens. Gay's older sister, Tiffany, was a keen sprinter and had a successful high school career. Tiffany and Tyson Gay, encouraged by their mother, raced at every opportunity, training hard at school and on the hills in their neighborhood. There was strong competition between the two, and Gay later said that his sister's quick reaction time inspired him to improve
Professional career
Road to Osaka World Championships
With Brauman still serving his sentence, Gay began working with a new coach – Olympic gold medalist Jon Drummond. Drummond was renowned for being quick off the mark, and Gay hoped that he could help improve his starting times. Gay aimed to challenge World Record holder Powell's dominance of the 100 m event, stating: "I want this to be a rivalry. I want to step up to the plate". His performances backed up his remarks, as he started the 2007 outdoor season with two wind-assisted runs of 9.79 s and 9.76 s. The latter time was recorded with a wind only 0.2 m/s over the allowed limit, and was superior to Powell's record of 9.77 s.
At the US National Championships he equaled his 100 m best of 9.84 s while running into the wind. This was a meeting record and the second fastest 100 m time with a headwind after Maurice Greene's 9.82 s run. He followed this with a new 200 m personal best in the finals, again facing an impeding wind. His time of 19.62 s was the second fastest ever; only Johnson's 19.32 s run at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was faster. Gay was happy with the achievement but noted that the competition was still strong: "I wasn't thinking about any time. I was trying to get away from Spearmon as fast as I could."[53] After noting that he was feeling worn out, Gay had a brief recuperation period in preparation for the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan. He returned to the track in Europe and, while weather conditions were poor, he won the 200 m in Lausanne with 19.78 s and had wins at 100 m events in Sheffield and London. He relished the opportunity to face Powell at the World Championships: both sprinters were undefeated that year and Gay said that he felt ready for the challenge.
Facing each other for the first time that year, the IAAF described the 100 m final in Osaka as "the season’s most eagerly-anticipated battle". Gay won with a time of 9.85 s, sprinting ahead of Derrick Atkins and third-placed Powell to become the new 100 m world champion. Although this was the American's first major 100 m title, he remained respectful of Powell:
“ "We have long looked forward to this duel. And I think somehow we are both winners. Asafa has run a strong race. He is the World record holder while I am the fastest this year and now I am the World champion...He has taken the bronze this time, but he could well come back with the gold next year in Beijing...I think for this year it makes me the fastest man in the world."
—Tyson Gay, IAAF
Gay doubled his gold medal count in the 200 m event. He ran a new championship record time of 19.76 s to win a second gold medal, beating Usain Bolt and Spearmon to the post. Bolt was clear to point out that he lost to the better athlete: "I got beaten by the No. 1 man in the world. For the moment, he is unbeatable." Only Maurice Greene and Gatlin had won the sprint double at the Championships before, but Gay eyed a third gold in the 4 x 100 meters relay. The Americans faced stiff competition from the Jamaican team, which included Powell and Bolt. The Jamaicans set a national record, but it was not enough to beat the United States team, who finished in a world-leading time of 37.78 s. Gay won his third gold medal alongside Darvis Patton, Spearmon and Leroy Dixon. The triple-gold haul repeated the feat achieved by Maurice Greene at the 1999 Seville World Championships and Carl Lewis in 1983 and 1987.
Although Gay had been bullish in victory on the track, the achievement did not change him—he remained humble and appreciative to his rivals. In November he was chosen as the IAAF Male World Athlete of the Year for 2007 and in his acceptance speech he paid tribute to his peers, encouraging Powell to remain focused and saying that he highly regarded the Jamaican. He also dismissed comparisons to his forebears, commenting: "I honestly believe that I need to have the World record like some of the other great sprinters like Carl Lewis, Maurice Greene. I think that sets you apart, having medals and having the World record." At the end of the season Gay was elected 2007 Men's Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News (topping the year's list as the fastest 100 m and 200 m sprinter), and he won the USATF's Harrison Dillard award as the top US male sprinter.
[edit]2008 Beijing Olympics
Following Brauman's release from prison, Gay set out preparing for the Beijing Olympics, training with both Brauman and Jon Drummond in the off-season. Returning to competition in May, he continued as he had left off in 2007: winning the 200 m in Kingston, taking gold in both sprints at the Adidas Track Classic, and finishing second in the 100 m at the Reebok Grand Prix with a 9.85 s run. However, Gay now faced a new, emerging challenger in Usain Bolt; at the latter event Bolt had beaten Gay with a world-record-setting 9.72 s. Taking this into consideration, he realized that a world record time would be needed to beat both Bolt and Powell at the Olympics; Gay aimed to run below 9.70 s. With athletes running such quick times, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) sought to counter claims of performance-enhancing drugs use through "Project Believe", a regular, extensive drugs testing program. The BALCO scandal and the banning of high profile athletes, including Gatlin and Marion Jones, had damaged the public's perception of sprinting and the USADA recruited Gay to prove clean athletes could be just as successful.
Gay leading in the 200 m against (left to right) Anastasios Gousis, Usain Bolt and Churandy Martina.
The favorite for qualification in both the 100 m and 200 m at the US Olympic Trials, Gay put in a strong performance in the heats. After a misjudgement in the first round almost caused him to miss out on qualification, Gay resolved to step up his pace, and he won the 100 m quarter-final with a US record-setting run of 9.77 s. Breaking Maurice Greene's nine-year-old record, this made Gay the third fastest 100 m sprinter ever, after rivals Bolt and Powell. In the final the following day, Gay finished first in a wind-aided 9.68 s (+4.1 m/s). This was the fastest ever 100 m time under any conditions, bettering the 9.69 s record which Obadele Thompson had set 12 years earlier. The 200 m event was a significant setback for Gay as he suffered a hamstring injury in the qualifiers and was subsequently ruled out of the event for the Olympics. The injury persisted for several weeks and he dropped out of track meetings in order to recover in time for the Olympics.
Gay made his track return in Beijing but his injury had reduced his 100 m medal chances and Bolt and Powell were more favored to win the event.[83] The much anticipated Gay, Bolt and Powell final never materialised, however, as Gay failed to qualify in the semi-finals. Finishing fifth after recording 10.05 s, Gay denied that he was still injured, but claimed the hamstring problem had upset his training schedule.
Further disappointment followed as the American 4 x 100 m relay team, with Gay as anchor, failed to qualify for the final. Darvis Patton and Gay failed to pass on the baton in the heat. Gay personally took responsibility for the dropped baton but Patton denied this was true, saying "That's Tyson Gay. He's a humble guy, but I know it's my job to get the guy the baton and I didn't do that." After stating his desire to win four Olympic gold medals earlier in the year, Gay finished the 2008 Olympics without a single medal. Having failed to reach the finals of the 100 m sprint or relay, he reflected upon his failure to make the podium in Beijing: "[I felt the baton] then I went to grab it and there was nothing. It's kind of the way it's been happening to me this Olympics."
Gay rounded off the season in Europe, winning in the 200 m at Gateshead, but he had to withdraw from a ÅF Golden League race against Bolt and Powell due to his hamstring injury.
[edit]World silver and US record
Gay returned to competition after the indoor athletics season, recording a new 400 m personal best of 45.57 seconds in May. In his first 200 m outing of the season at the Reebok Grand Prix, he set a personal best and meet record of 19.58 seconds. This was the third fastest 200 m run ever, after Bolt and Johnson's world record-setting times. Following a wind-aided (3.4 m/s) 100 m run of 9.75 s at the US Championships, Gay stated that he could beat the world record if he improved his technique. Record holder Bolt dismissed the challenge, saying that it would be difficult for Gay as "he is more of a 200 m runner". At the Golden Gala in July, Gay beat Asafa Powell's 9.88 season's best with a 9.77 second run, equaling his own US record. This improved upon Bolt's previous world leading time of 9.86 seconds.
The first event at the 2009 World Championships in August was the 100 m. After two sub-10 clockings in the preliminary rounds, Gay reached the final, along with Jamaicans Bolt and Powell. He ran a new US record of 9.71 seconds in the race, the third-fastest time in history, but even so had to settle for second place, losing his 100 m world title to Bolt, who knocked 0.11 seconds off the world record with a run of 9.58 seconds.
At the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, on 20 September 2009, Gay ran the second-fastest men's 100 m on record, winning in 9.69 seconds, matching Usain Bolt's winning time at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. After beating Powell for the sixth time in Daegu,[100] Gay stated that he would reconsider his plans for groin surgery in the off-season as it was mainly a case of resolving discomfort when running, rather than a more serious injury.
2011 injury and 2012 Olympics
He opened his 2011 season with a run in the 150 m straight race at Manchester's Great City Games and timed 14.51 seconds (the second fastest after Bolt's 2009 run). His season's best run of 9.79 sec for the 100 m came in June in Clermont, Florida and ranked it him as the third fastest in the event that year. Gay was defeated by Steve Mullings at the adidas Grand Prix in New York – Mullings failed a doping test later that month and was banned for life. A nagging hip injury led to Gay's withdrawal from the 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and in July he underwent acetabular labrum surgery; almost a year passed until the next time he competed.
