Indianapolis – America doesn’t know much about Tyson Gay yet, but it will hear plenty as next summer’s Beijing Olympics approach.
The soft-spoken sprinter from Lexington, Ky., emerged as one of the world’s best last year and now is dominating. He hasn’t set a world record, but he is closing in on two.
Gay won the 100 meters at the U.S. Track & Field Championships on Friday in 9.84 seconds – the second-fastest time run into a headwind. He lit up the track again Sunday, winning the 200 in 19.62, the second-fastest time, behind Michael Johnson’s world record of 19.32. Sunday’s performance also came against a headwind.
“He’s running well in the 100. He’s running well in the 200,” Johnson said. “We’re all just lucky to be able to see somebody run that well.”
Allyson Felix called Gay an inspiration after she won the women’s 200 in 22.34.
“Tyson was amazing,” Felix said. “I wish just a little bit could rub off on me.”
Gay is not a man who taunts opponents or beats his chest for the camera gallery. Serious but not gruff, he commands the spotlight with his times instead of antics.
“I’m kind of a quiet guy,” said Gay, 24, who ran for Arkansas in college. “I guess I’m not a flashy guy. I’m just trying to come out here, learn the sport, learn the history and run the best I can.”
He is the man everyone is chasing, but, apparently, he is still having trouble grasping the concept, saying he never sees himself as the favorite. Sunday he was worried about his training partner, world championships silver medalist Wallace Spearmon, who finished second in 19.89.
“Anytime I’m in a race with Wallace Spearmon, I just run as hard as I can to try to get away from him,” Gay said. “I heard some heavy breathing the whole way. I don’t know if it was me or him, but I heard someone breathing and I was pretty sure it was Wallace. I just had to stay relaxed and keep running.”
More really heavy breathing began about 20 minutes later when Alan Webb ran a sensational 1,500, breaking Steve Scott’s meet record with a time of 3 minutes, 34.82 seconds.
“It’s nice to have my title back,” Webb said. “I wasn’t here last year, so it was a little bit of an emotional day for me.”
Many observers figured Webb and Bernard Lagat, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Kenya, to be the class of the race. The runners worked together the first three laps. To their surprise, Leonel Manzano of the University of Texas hung with them. Webb outkicked both, with Manzano edging Lagat for second. Lagat was racing less than 48 hours after winning the 5,000.
“It takes 3:39, 3:40 just to make the final now in the U.S.,” Webb said. “It takes 3:35 to make the (world championships) team. I think the level of competition has stepped up. Because of that, I feel more confident about competing at the world level.”
Two Colorado athletes had stunning setbacks, preventing them from making the world championships team. Former University of Colorado runner Steve Slattery, one of the favorites in the steeplechase, hurt his ankle in warm-ups and pulled out of the race on the second lap.
Former Colorado State discus thrower Casey Malone, the top American in the Athens Olympics, fouled on his first throw after slipping on a surface made slick by heavy rain and failed to gather himself.
“Unfortunately, I let it get to me, so the next two throws after that were pretty tentative,” Malone said. “The first one I almost fell down and threw it out of bounds. Started off wrong and didn’t get it going back the other way.”
