OLYMPICS COVERAGE by QueerGam's Guest Bloggers:
Tyson Gay (left) must run under 9.7 seconds to win the 100M Men Gold in Beijing. His PR is 9.85 seconds. His rival, Usain Bolt of Jamaica, dipped 9.72 seconds this month, a new world record.
Bolt set a startling world record of 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix meet in New York on May 31. Bolt is 6-foot-5, a rarity in that no man of that height had been able to so artfully master the principles of speed — stride length and stride frequency. He needed only 41 ½ strides that night to reach the finish line, while Tyson Gay, the reigning world champion at 100 and 200 meters, finished a distant second in 9.85 seconds, needing 45 strides to cover the same distance.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen someone that tall with that quick a turnover,” said Wallace Spearmon, a former training partner of Gay’s who won the 200 at that Reebok meet and watched the 100.
Over the past three weeks, Gay has done the sprint equivalent of taking his 100-meter technique apart, putting it on the grease rack and giving it an overhaul. He will unveil what he hopes will be a more efficient start this weekend, with the first two rounds of the 100 scheduled for Saturday, and the semifinals and finals to be run Sunday.
“When someone comes to your country and kicks your butt, and then breaks a world record and puts the cherry on top, it can put something in your mind a little bit,” Gay said. “But after a week or so, I was able to block it out and get back to business.”
This began as what was supposed to be Gay’s crowning season. He was a double world champion who was favored to spin his achievement into Olympic gold. Then came a Bolt out of the blue to change everything in the 100. The reliability of Gay’s technique at the trials may go a long way toward foreshadowing his performance against Bolt in Beijing. The 100 meters is an adaptive event. Every few years, there’s going to come a guy that runs a little differently than everyone else. That guy’s beating everyone. You have to learn his race patterns and find a way to beat him. That’s where Tyson is right now. And the rest of the world.
Tyson Gay (left) must run under 9.7 seconds to win the 100M Men Gold in Beijing. His PR is 9.85 seconds. His rival, Usain Bolt of Jamaica, dipped 9.72 seconds this month, a new world record.Bolt set a startling world record of 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix meet in New York on May 31. Bolt is 6-foot-5, a rarity in that no man of that height had been able to so artfully master the principles of speed — stride length and stride frequency. He needed only 41 ½ strides that night to reach the finish line, while Tyson Gay, the reigning world champion at 100 and 200 meters, finished a distant second in 9.85 seconds, needing 45 strides to cover the same distance.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen someone that tall with that quick a turnover,” said Wallace Spearmon, a former training partner of Gay’s who won the 200 at that Reebok meet and watched the 100.
Over the past three weeks, Gay has done the sprint equivalent of taking his 100-meter technique apart, putting it on the grease rack and giving it an overhaul. He will unveil what he hopes will be a more efficient start this weekend, with the first two rounds of the 100 scheduled for Saturday, and the semifinals and finals to be run Sunday.
“When someone comes to your country and kicks your butt, and then breaks a world record and puts the cherry on top, it can put something in your mind a little bit,” Gay said. “But after a week or so, I was able to block it out and get back to business.”
This began as what was supposed to be Gay’s crowning season. He was a double world champion who was favored to spin his achievement into Olympic gold. Then came a Bolt out of the blue to change everything in the 100. The reliability of Gay’s technique at the trials may go a long way toward foreshadowing his performance against Bolt in Beijing. The 100 meters is an adaptive event. Every few years, there’s going to come a guy that runs a little differently than everyone else. That guy’s beating everyone. You have to learn his race patterns and find a way to beat him. That’s where Tyson is right now. And the rest of the world.