Tyson Gay

Infobox runner
runnername = Tyson Gay


imagesize =
caption =Gay at the AT&T USA Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis
nationality =American
distance(s) =100 meters, 200 meters
club =
birthdate =Birth date and age|1982|08|09|mf=yes
birthplace =Lexington, Kentucky, United States
residence =Clermont, Florida
deathdate =
deathplace =
height =convert|5|ft|11|in|m
weight =convert|165|lb|kg
medaltemplates =

Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982 in Lexington, Kentucky) is an American sprinter who won gold medals at the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan. He is the third fastest athlete in the history of the 100 and 200 metre races, with times of 9.77 and 19.62 seconds respectively. Gay's most notable performance came when he ran the 100 m final of the U.S Olympic Trials in 9.68 seconds. However, the recorded wind aid of +4.1m/s far exceeded the legal limit of 2m/s, meaning the time cannot be officially registered as a World Record. Yet it remains as the fastest time ever recorded by any 100 m sprinter, under any conditions.

Early life

Gay was a sprint athlete who won several state titles while attending Lafayette Senior High School in Lexington, Kentucky.

He competed collegiately at Barton Community College and the University of Arkansas and in 2004 he won the 100 m event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as well as achieving a time of 10.06 s in June.

Professional career

2005

In 2005, Gay concentrated more on the 200 m event, setting a personal best time of 19.93 s in June. This result placed him second on the world statistic lists, behind college teammate and training partner Wallace Spearmon. Gay competed in the 200 m at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and finished fourth to complete an American 1-2-3-4 sweep, the first time any nation has achieved this in a World Championship athletics event. Gay's aim of becoming the fastest third leg runner in the world for the 4 x 100 m relay was unfulfilled after a poor baton exchange between Mardy Scales and Leonard Scott. This resulted in the United States being disqualified from the event. Gay went on to run the 200 m in the Norwich Union Athletics Grand Prix in Sheffield, England and came second. He was beaten by the 100 m and 200 m 2005 World Champion, Justin Gatlin. Gatlin won in a time of 20.04 s with Gay finishing 0.05 s behind. Gay ended the season with a 200 m race at the World Athletics final, recording a time of 19.96 s. The headwind was measured at 1.5 m/s.

2006

In 2006, Gay steadily improved his performances. On July 11, he ran a time of 19.70 s, at the IAAF Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland, finishing second behind Xavier Carter. On July 21 in Rethymno, Greece, he completed the 100 m race in a time of 9.88 s. Gay improved yet again on his personal best on August 18 in Zurich, Switzerland. There he ran a time of 9.84 s upon finishing second place to Jamaica's Asafa Powell. In the same race, Powell equaled his World Record of 9.77 s for the third time.

Gay improved his 200 m time on September 10 in Stuttgart, Germany, when he reached the finish line in 19.68 s. Tying with Frank Fredericks's time. In the same race, he ran the unofficial fastest time for the first half of the 200 m, reaching the 100 m mark in 9.96 s. Michael Johnson held the previous fastest time of 10.12 s during his 19.32 s World-Record-setting run at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. By the end of 2006, Gay was ranked second in the world at both 100 m and 200 m by the IAAF, and was fourth on the all-time lists for both events.

2007

Gay started his 2007 season with two impressive wind-aided performances in the 100 m, achieving a time of 9.79 s at the Adidas Track Classic in Carson, California, United States on May 20, and 9.76 s at the Reebok Grand Prix on June 2. With the absence and suspension of Justin Gatlin for doping offenses, Gay was considered to be the main challenger to Powell in the 100 m event in 2007.

On June 22, 2007, at the AT&T USA Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, Gay won the 100 m with a time of 9.84 s, which was at the time the second fastest performance ever into headwind, after former World Record-holder Maurice Greene's time of 9.82 s. [cite web| url = http://www.iaaf.org/WCH07/news/Kind=2/newsId=39192.html| title = Gay runs 9.84 world season lead into the wind – US Champs| accessdate = 2007-06-23| publisher = IAAF| date = June 23, 2007] He finished 0.23 s ahead of second-place contender Trindon Holliday. On June 24, two days after his 100 m victory, Gay won the 200 m race with a time of 19.62 s. At the time, this was the second fastest run ever in the history of the event. However since Usain Bolt's record-breaking 200 m run in the 2008 Olympics, Gay's time is now ranked third fastest.

On August 26, 2007 at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka Japan, he defeated world record holder Powell with a time of 9.85 s, to become the new 100 m world champion. [cite web| url = http://www.cnn.com/2007/SPORT/08/26/athletics.gay/index.html?eref=rss_latest| title = Gay blazes to world 100m title win| accessdate = 2007-08-26| publisher = CNN| date = August 26, 2007] Four days later, he ran a new championship record time of 19.76 s to win the 200 m event. Gay became the third sprint athlete in history, along with Maurice Greene and Gatlin, to win both the 100 m and 200 m at the World Championships. [cite web| url = http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SPORT/08/30/athletics.gay/ |title = Gay powers to Osaka sprint double| accessdate = 2007-08-30| publisher = CNN| date = August 30, 2007] Two days later, he won his third gold medal on the meet after an American victory in the 4 x 100 m relay event, achieving a time of 37.78 s. [ cite web| url = http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SPORT/09/01/athletics.men| title = U.S. relay win secures Gay Treble| accessdate = 2007-09-01| publisher = CNN| date = September 1, 2007] Gay joined Marita Koch, Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Greene and Allyson Felix as the only athletes in history to win three gold medals at a single World Championships.

In part for his exploits at the 2007 World Championships, Gay was selected as the IAAF male World Athlete of the Year for 2007 and the 2007 Men's Athlete of the Year by "Track and Field News". [cite web| url = http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=42502.html | title = For Defar and Gay, near perfection in 2007| accessdate = 2007-11-27| publisher = IAAF| date = November 26, 2007] He was also award the USATF's Harrison Dillard award as the US's top male sprinter. [ [http://www.usatf.org/statistics/awards/TF/HarrisonDillardAward.asp Harrison and Dillard Award] , USATF.org]

2008

On June 28 2008, in the 100 m quarterfinal at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, Gay finished in a time of 9.77 s. This was the American record, and also the 3rd fastest time in history for the event. [ [http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OLY_ATH_TRACK_TRIALS_US_RECORD_100 Gay sets US record in 100 with 9.77] ] . In the 100 m final the following day, Gay finished first in a wind-aided 9.68 s(+4.1 m/s). This is the fastest ever 100 m time under any conditions, bettering the 9.69 s record which Obadele Thompson had set 12 years earlier. The current (legitimate) men's World Record is 9.69 s by Bolt in the 100 m final of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.cite web|url=http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=O/age=N/season=0/sex=M/all=y/legal=A/disc=100/detail.htmx|title=Top List - 100m|publisher=IAAF|accessdate=2008-08-16] . Gay had failed to qualify for the final, instead finishing fifth in the second semi-final with an official time of 10.05 s. Speaking afterwards with reporters about his performance, Gay fully denied that he was hampered by his past injury and insisted that he had fully recovered. However even after Gay's denial of prior injury having a negative impact, media and fans continue to view his performance with some scrutiny, particularly because of the pain in his face after the race.

On August 21, the American men's 4 x 100 m relay team with Gay as anchor, failed to qualify for the final. The baton was never delivered to him at the last exchange of the heat, ending the USA's hopes of a medal in the event. Subsequently this was one of the greatest upsets in Beijing. By the end of the Olympics, Gay had failed to win a single medal.

tatistics

:"As of September 9, 2008"

Personal bests

*All information from IAAF Profile cite web |title=Gay, Tyson biography |publisher=IAAF.org |url=http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=0/athcode=185464/index.html |accessdate=2008-09-08 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.tysongay.net Tyson Gay Official website]
* [http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Gay_Tyson.asp USATF (Athlete Biography): Tyson Gay]
*iaaf name|id=185464|name=Tyson Gay
* [http://www.spikesmag.com/athletes/Heroes/tysongay.aspx SPIKES Hero profile on www.spikesmag.com]
* [http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1819129_1819134_1825726,00.html "Tyson Gay"] , n°10 on "Time"’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"

Persondata
NAME = Gay, Tyson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = American Olympic sprinter
DATE OF BIRTH = August 9, 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH = Lexington, Kentucky, United States
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =