|
By any measure, July has been good to Tyson Gay.
After equalling his 10.04 personal best in the short dash in Rome, he followed up with his 19.70 shocker behind Xavier Carter in Lausanne, nailed his first legal sub-10 in Rethimno, Greece, and gained revenge on the heavily-hyped X-Man in London on Friday.
"I came in here slightly the underdog considering Xavier had the fastest time in the world," Gay said after his powering 19.84 win at London’s Crystal Palace, well ahead of Carter’s 19.98. "But besides that my mind just stayed focused and I wanted to come here and run a great race."
After being run down by Carter in that now-legendary race in Lausanne, Gay made one basic change to his race strategy: simply running through the line.
"That’s what I worked on, pumping my arms because the last time I raced Xavier he came and got me in the last five meters. And I just got tired. This time I just kept pumping my arms, stayed relaxed and went through the line."
In London, Gay said, "My rhythm was a lot better. In Lausanne I tried to run even faster coming off the curve instead of staying relaxed. I did that here. They pumped this race up here a lot. In Lausanne it was different because it was my first race of the year."
Gay said a major error in Lausanne was expecting Carter to challenge him in the homestretch. He erased that from his mind in London as well.
"Last time I could hear him, but this time I couldn’t. I just tried not to focus on him. In Lausanne I was expecting him to come and I think that made me tighten up a little bit."
Last year, Gay, who turns 24 on August 9, produced two non-wind assisted sub-20 second clockings, first in the semis at the NCAA championships, and again to cap his season at the World Athletics Final to beat world champion Justin Gatlin. He’s matched that this year already, and that despite training solely for the 100. In the short dash, he clocked 9.97 to finish second behind Asafa Powell at Stockholm’s DN Galan last Tuesday, four days after riding a maximum allowable 2.0 m/s wind to a PB 9.88 to become the fourth fastest of the year.
While he may not be quite ready to challenge the current supremacy displayed by Powell in the 100, does Gay think he’s No. 1 in the 200?
"That’s kind of hard to say," he said, with a hearty laugh. "Right now, the number one time in the world is Xavier’s. But right now I think I’m the No. 1 200 meter runner considering the races I’ve had."
After returning to the U.S. for a two-week training stint, Gay will race next at Zurich's Weltklasse Golden League fixture on August 18.
| 
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
Save to del.icio.us
