Faster than a speeding Bolt?

Last year he ran an American 100m record to win silver at the World Championships – on one good leg! This year TYSON GAY is fully fit and aiming to become the fastest man on the planet... ever.

How on Earth do you beat Usain Bolt? He’s clearly from another planet.
So outrageous is the suggestion that he can be beaten, there is only one man on our planet who can utter it without being carted to the lunatic asylum.
That man is Tyson Gay. And SPIKES is in Florida to meet him.
The calmin’ yin to Bolt’s bling yang, Gay is quiet, shy and humble. He is not, however, cowed by his ebullient, attention-seeking Jamaican rival. Quite the opposite in fact. He can’t wait for the next time they blast from the blocks together.
This at-the-double act’s showdowns promise to be the highlight of the 2010 athletics calendar. Bolt is the undoubted star, the 100m/200m Olympic and world champion, with world records in each. But Gay, the straight man who runs a demon bend, could steal his limelight this season.
Consider this: when he ran 9.71 to take silver behind Bolt in Berlin last year, he was suffering a chronic groin problem. He had been carrying it since early July, having decided to resist surgery and endure the pain in order to defend his 100m title. Training sessions had to be cut short, the weights room avoided for six weeks prior to Berlin, to protect the injury. Even so, the heat, quarter-final, semi-final and final were all agonising.
“I told my coach Jon Drummond that it was the most pain I had ever experienced,” says Gay in that understated way of his. “I was taking painkillers to try to numb the pain and get through the race. Jon couldn't believe the time I ran: ‘Knowing you were in pain, I really respect you.’”
It was a brilliant performance by a brave athlete. But enough was enough. He withdrew from the defence of his 200m world title.
Thankfully, Gay now has a clean bill of health. How much faster does he think he can go?
Faster than 9.58.
“I don’t know if it will be this year or the next, but I want to own that world record one day. I’ve been so close to it. A lot of people think it is out of reach, but I’m striving to get there.
“I was very satisfied with my 2009. The way I ran that 100m in Berlin gives me a lot of heart and strength. Considering everything I went through, I think I have a lot more to look forward to.”
The Kentuckian is confident that significant improvements can be made: his start, strength, technique. But does he seriously believe he can beat the greatest sprinter in history?
“I guess I think I can beat him,” he says with an almost boyish naivety. “I’ve never viewed anyone as unbeatable. If anyone has beaten me, I’ve always worked hard to try to beat them. That’s why I can beat Bolt. You just have to try to execute.
“It isn’t going to be easy, though.”
He’s not wrong. And he’s right too. How else could he approach the task?
Gay uses the example of his 2007 IAAF World Championships in Osaka: Asafa Powell was the overwhelming favourite to win the 100m, yet it was Gay, the underdog, who won gold.
But Bolt’s not Powell. Usain appears to have no weakness to exploit. That said, few have studied him as closely as Gay and his helpers have.
Spotted any flaws, Tyson?
“Nobody is perfect, everyone has some weaknesses. I just think his are hard to point out because he is running fast. A lot of coaches are not studying his weaknesses because he is so far ahead of the field, but I think some technical gurus can find a couple of chinks in his armour.”
Gay returned to full training in January after surgery. He insists he has “zero” worries about the injury returning. He is pain-free and setting his sights on the inaugural Diamond League, a series that promises more head-to-heads between the big three: Bolt, Gay and Powell. Gay is excited by the concept and intends to race Bolt “three, four or five times”.
Their 100m clashes will receive more attention, but some believe Gay has a greater potential to threaten Bolt over 200m – an event the American prefers.
“The 100m is a little bit more technical,” he explains. “I feel more relaxed and under less pressure at the start of a 200m, and I like to run the bend. In 2009 I opened up with 19.58 [in New York to climb third on the all-time rankings], but when I went to Europe I got hurt. So I believe I can definitely improve on 19.5.”
Be it 100m or 200m, Gay believes he has nothing to fear. The only thing that does worry him is the thought of failure. It’s a mindset that has driven him on since his older sister, Tiffany, used to beat him in street races when they were kids.
“Ever since I was young I never wanted to fail,” says Gay. “Not so much in big races, more in life. In 2007 my sister threw a party back in Kentucky for me to celebrate my gold medals, and I was thinking that nobody was going to come. I was nervous and asked her, ‘Why are you having this?’ But friends and family members came and I had a blast.”
Intrigued by this admission, SPIKES presses him on why his on-track swagger fails to translate to real life.
“Sometimes people say I’m naive because I don’t realise how many people would like to be in my shoes.
“My mother came down to visit me in Florida recently and I took her to the Mall at Millenia in Orlando. We ran into NBA basketball stars Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James. Shaquille knew who I was, and LeBron took a picture of us; he asked my mother if I was still running, if I was healthy.
“It was great to know that these huge sporting names knew me, a little old track athlete.”
Yes, but if Gay is the man to beat Bolt, and if he sets new world records in the process, he will become a little old global superstar.

***Spikes carried out this interview in early 2010.....