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due to a cramp in his hamstring... so he will only run the 100 at the olympics... and the plot thickens...
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'to get what we've never had, we MUST do what we've never done' -
Lie Yuh Telling Mi!!!!!!!
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You mean he might miss the 100m as well?
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Does Crawford have any respect for the World Record Holder?
What does Gay's tumble at the Olympic trials mean? Five things
Story Highlights- Gay's management said the sprinter suffered a "severe cramp"
- Without 200m, Gay misses out on shot at Olympic stardom
- Gay's injury makes Bolt the clear favorite in the 100m in Beijing
Tyson Gay, the defending 200-meters world champion, won't run in the event in Beijing.
Andy Lyons/Getty Images
EUGENE, Ore. -- The U.S. Olympic track and field team was dramatically changed in a period of five seconds early Saturday afternoon during the team trials at Hayward Field.
Tyson Gay, the defending world champion and fastest active 200-meter runner in the world, went down with what his handlers called a cramped hamstring roughly 15 strides into his quarterfinal heat and will not represent the United States in the 200 at the Olympics in Beijing. He won the 100 meters here last Sunday in a wind-aided 9.68 seconds, the fast time in history under any conditions.
Gay appeared to break cleanly from the blocks, but quickly began galloping, hopped onto his right leg in the sure sign of a hamstring injury and then awkwardly clipped his ankles together, which caused him to fall had onto the hard rubber track. The sellout crowd gasped loudly.
Not long after Gay's fall, the sprinter's management team said that Gay had suffered only a "severe cramp.'' Masseur Benny Vaughn, who regularly treats Gay in Arlington, Texas and works for USA Track and Field at major events, was applying ice and compression to the injury late Saturday afternoon at Gay's Eugene hotel.
In a statement issued through his publicist, Barbara Huebner, Gay said, "Before I went out on the track I felt a little tightness in my hamstring. So I had kind of a bad feeling. When I came off the curve the first two steps were fine, and then I felt sort of a pull, about 40 meters in. Once I was on the ground, it didn't hurt as much as when it happened.''
Gay added, "It's just one of those things.''
What does Gay's pull/cramp/injury mean? Five things:
1. One of the toughest events in the U.S. got easier. Not easy, but easier. Besides Gay, Xavier Carter (19.63 seconds), Wallace Spearmon (19.65) and Walter Dix (19.69) had run under the 19.70-second mark, a barrier that hadn't even been broken before 1996. Plus, Shawn Crawford, who has struggled with injuries for three years, is the defending Olympic gold medalist and has run 19.79 seconds. (Crawford is also one of the last athletes formerly trained by the notorious Trevor Graham remaining in contention for an Olympic berth; Crawford is now trained by Bob Kersee).
Sprinters immediately understood the significance of Gay's injury. "Him being the No. 1 sprinter in the world, it takes a lot of pressure off the field,'' said Crawford. `"It opens up an opportunity.''
Spearmon said, "I think people are going to take advantage of the opportunity. You'd be crazy not to.''
2. Had Gay won the 200 meters, he would have gone to Beijing with a shot at golds in the 100, 200 and 4X100-meter relays, which is the fast track to sprint superstardom. It's what he did last year in Osaka, Japan at the world championships. Now Gay needs to get healthy to take on meteoric Jamaican Usain Bolt in the 100 and run the relay. But the 100 and 4x100 does not a celebrity make, unless he breaks the world record in the 100. Should Kenyan expatriate Bernard Lagat qualify for the 1,500 meters on Sunday, he will run the Olympics with a chance to repeat his worlds fifteen-five double and he would become the USA track star of the Games.
3. How badly is Gay hurt? His camp says it was a bad cramp. Gay told his publicist he was feeling better. "If it's a severe cramp, he's going to be fine,'' said Dan O'Brien, former world record holder in the decathlon and a 1996 Olympic gold medalist. But then O'Brien added, "I wouldn't say much more than that if were him, either.''
The point is: There's no sense in Gay's camp revealing too much about the injury, which can scare off high-paying European meet promoters and embolden his Jamaican rivals, Bolt and Asafa Powell. Beyond that, it's possible that even Gay's handlers won't know the extent of the injury for a few days, or until he trains hard or runs another race. His next scheduled race is July 25 in London.
4. The USA Track and Field Olympic selection system is brutal. You finish in the top three and meet the Olympic qualifying standard or you don't make the team in that event. No exceptions. No bargaining. No politics. If Gay had just a momentary cramp and returns to full health quickly, of course he would be major threat in the 200 in Beijing. But on a Saturday afternoon in Eugene, he didn't perform. So he will not run the 200 in Beijing.
5. The 100 meters in Beijing could -- again -- take on an entirely different feel. After Gay thrashed Powell last summer in Osaka, Gay was the clear favorite for Beijing. Then Powell got hurt. Then Bolt exploded and trounced Gay in New York on May 31. Now this with Gay. For the moment, the Olympic 100 is Bolt vs. all comers and Bolt is the heavy favorite.
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