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After running 19.58 last Saturday in New York, Tyson Gay is pumped up and ready to shoot. Usain Bolt is his target.
"I wouldn't say (Bolt's times) are out of reach. The 200m (at the Olympics) was definitely a shocker. I didn't think he had that in him, the 19.30. I was thinking, oh, maybe 19.4. The 100m, it was a shocker, the way he ran it. It was relaxed, and exciting. But the time didn't shock me. He could have won the Olympics with the time he ran in Jamaica. He was on fire last year. But I've seen his progression. I've seen his technique change over the past couple of years."
"I hope (I can run that fast), because I believe that's what it's going to take to win. He inspires me to work hard. The funny thing about it is that he's the World record holder in the 100m dash, but the 200m is his favorite event. It's pretty much the same for me. I'm really looking forward to that," concluded Gay.
"Tyson's back." That's how the moderator opened the post-meet press conference with Tyson Gay after the Reebok Grand Prix – IAAF World Athletics Tour - on Saturday evening (30 May), where Gay ran 19.58 for 200m. It's the third-fastest time ever and the fastest any man has ever run without setting a World record, the only quicker marks the outliers belonging to Michael Johnson (19.32 in 1996) and Usain Bolt (19.30 in 2008). It's also the best 200m run outside the Olympic Games.
At 19.62, Gay's previous PB, set in 2007 in Indianapolis, was the fastest of a cluster of marks set in the 19.6 range between 2006 and 2008 which foreshadowed Bolt's incredible Beijing run. His new PB demonstrates Gay's determination to match the times Bolt is running rather than cede the field to the mercurial Jamaican, and his comments after the race, quiet and self-effacing as always, showed that Gay is still determined to be faster.
Breaking down the race
"I was very surprised" by the time, Gay said. "I didn't have a time goal for this meet. It was more to work on my start and work on my technique, and just see what comes out of the execution. 19.5 had been one of my goals to run, and to do that in my first race was very pleasing. It shows I'm pretty fit. I haven't done any speed-work yet, but the 400s I did earlier showed my fitness. I was a little fatigued towards the last 25m of the race, but that will come with more races."
"I couldn't tell how quickly I got out, but it felt different to me because I've been working on my start. It felt more open, longer, instead of quick. So it felt different. I was a little confused for the first ten or fifteen metres of the race because I couldn't tell if I was going fast, or how it was turning out.”
As far as the race plan, Gay said, "I wanted to work on my reaction and my start, on staying low in the first 30m of the race. After that, practice kind of goes out the window. I just run, run for my life, and hope that what I've done in practice comes over to the race. I was leaning over a little too much in the curve. I've been trying to work on standing up tall. People say it's possible to run the curve in a straight line if you do it technically right, but it's very difficult, so I was leaning a little too much."
"I tried to run the turn pretty smooth, but once I reached the straightaway, I just run for my life. You never know when one of those guys, guys who run the 400m like Xavier Carter, or Wallace Spearmon...I just run for my life. I don't really have time to look around. When I came to the finish line I was trying to lift my knees up and do anything to run through the tape. In the last 20 metres I got kind of tight, and I just tried to bring it on home."
"I made sure I ran through the finish line, to push all the way through to see where my body's at. For some reason, when you slow down towards the finish line, it looks good. But then you have the 'would have, could have, should have.' This time I wanted to run through the finish line and see where my fitness was at, to see where my breaking point was. It's around 180m, maybe."
"Right now, I'm feeling pretty good, I'm feeling strong. I was a little fatigued, winded, after the race, but I thought my body was going to react differently. Right now, it's feeling pretty fit. When I run 200m, my groin gets a little tight, and that's the only tightness I have now."
Training, and plans for 2009
After talking through the race, Gay fielded questions about the preparation which led to it. "(My training) is exactly the same. The only difference was, instead of running 4x100m relays at Penn Relays, Texas Relays, I pushed it back some and ran three 400m races instead."
"I always open my season with a 200m, and I'm glad I stuck to the plan. I had some minor injuries early in the season, and I didn't rush it, I stuck to the plan and pushed it back a bit, opening with a 200m and still doing my strength training. I think it's really going to benefit my 100m."
Asked what he meant by "no speed-work", Gay explained, "Speed-work in practice is maybe 60m fast, 30m fast, running and running and running.”
“I haven't really touched it yet. I may have done a couple 60ms in practice, and some starts, that's considered speed-work, but I haven't really turned my body on. I've been doing 400m and longer distances."
From 2008 to 2012
Gay went on to talk about his recovery from the injury at the U.S. Trials which kept him from running the 200m in Beijing, and from the disappointment at the Olympics.
"It was very difficult. The biggest problem was getting over the 4x100m relay. I had to get that out of my mind. Also, being in such good shape and then to get hurt before the biggest race of my life sort of mentally drained the summer. When I went home for the summer, I didn't really do a lot of media. I didn't do any. I didn't go to my high school, or stuff like that. I felt like I let my city down, my state down, and my family down. I felt like that was selfish of me, and I had to get over it. I didn't want to be out a lot because I felt like I let a lot of people down. Once I started training, I felt I had to stay focused and redeem myself."
"(The London Olympics) aren't far away at all. At first it seems like four years is a long time, but when I considered it, I'm going to World Championships this year, and that's going to be exciting. Next year is an off year, and for track athletes that's a fun time, when you race each other and have fun. You don't have to worry about rounds, or making championships, et cetera.
The next year is World Championships again, and after that's Olympics.”
“So this year, World Champs, I'm going to have fun. Next year, off season, pick and choose, run a few races, and after that World Champs again... it's not far off to me, mentally."
Looking forward to races with Bolt
"(Bolt) is probably excited" about Gay's fast 200m, Gay speculated.
"I'm pretty sure he knows I'm a good curve runner, and he knows that will benefit him and he'll have good competition. He knows where his fitness is, because he ran 14.3 for 150m. He knows where my fitness is, now. I'm pretty sure he's looking forward to it."
"I'm trying to get my schedule set, maybe tomorrow, tomorrow night, I'll sit down with my agent and talk about my schedule, and my 100m schedule. I don't have any meets in mind. The only meet left for me before the Trials is maybe a meet in Florida, maybe Prefontaine. Right now I'm looking forward to just running the 100m to see where I'm at and I don't plan on doing the double at Nationals."
"I wouldn't say (Bolt's times) are out of reach. The 200m (at the Olympics) was definitely a shocker. I didn't think he had that in him, the 19.30. I was thinking, oh, maybe 19.4. The 100m, it was a shocker, the way he ran it. It was relaxed, and exciting. But the time didn't shock me. He could have won the Olympics with the time he ran in Jamaica. He was on fire last year. But I've seen his progression. I've seen his technique change over the past couple of years."
"I hope (I can run that fast), because I believe that's what it's going to take to win. He inspires me to work hard. The funny thing about it is that he's the World record holder in the 100m dash, but the 200m is his favorite event. It's pretty much the same for me. I'm really looking forward to that," concluded Gay.
"Tyson's back." That's how the moderator opened the post-meet press conference with Tyson Gay after the Reebok Grand Prix – IAAF World Athletics Tour - on Saturday evening (30 May), where Gay ran 19.58 for 200m. It's the third-fastest time ever and the fastest any man has ever run without setting a World record, the only quicker marks the outliers belonging to Michael Johnson (19.32 in 1996) and Usain Bolt (19.30 in 2008). It's also the best 200m run outside the Olympic Games.
At 19.62, Gay's previous PB, set in 2007 in Indianapolis, was the fastest of a cluster of marks set in the 19.6 range between 2006 and 2008 which foreshadowed Bolt's incredible Beijing run. His new PB demonstrates Gay's determination to match the times Bolt is running rather than cede the field to the mercurial Jamaican, and his comments after the race, quiet and self-effacing as always, showed that Gay is still determined to be faster.
Breaking down the race
"I was very surprised" by the time, Gay said. "I didn't have a time goal for this meet. It was more to work on my start and work on my technique, and just see what comes out of the execution. 19.5 had been one of my goals to run, and to do that in my first race was very pleasing. It shows I'm pretty fit. I haven't done any speed-work yet, but the 400s I did earlier showed my fitness. I was a little fatigued towards the last 25m of the race, but that will come with more races."
"I couldn't tell how quickly I got out, but it felt different to me because I've been working on my start. It felt more open, longer, instead of quick. So it felt different. I was a little confused for the first ten or fifteen metres of the race because I couldn't tell if I was going fast, or how it was turning out.”
As far as the race plan, Gay said, "I wanted to work on my reaction and my start, on staying low in the first 30m of the race. After that, practice kind of goes out the window. I just run, run for my life, and hope that what I've done in practice comes over to the race. I was leaning over a little too much in the curve. I've been trying to work on standing up tall. People say it's possible to run the curve in a straight line if you do it technically right, but it's very difficult, so I was leaning a little too much."
"I tried to run the turn pretty smooth, but once I reached the straightaway, I just run for my life. You never know when one of those guys, guys who run the 400m like Xavier Carter, or Wallace Spearmon...I just run for my life. I don't really have time to look around. When I came to the finish line I was trying to lift my knees up and do anything to run through the tape. In the last 20 metres I got kind of tight, and I just tried to bring it on home."
"I made sure I ran through the finish line, to push all the way through to see where my body's at. For some reason, when you slow down towards the finish line, it looks good. But then you have the 'would have, could have, should have.' This time I wanted to run through the finish line and see where my fitness was at, to see where my breaking point was. It's around 180m, maybe."
"Right now, I'm feeling pretty good, I'm feeling strong. I was a little fatigued, winded, after the race, but I thought my body was going to react differently. Right now, it's feeling pretty fit. When I run 200m, my groin gets a little tight, and that's the only tightness I have now."
Training, and plans for 2009
After talking through the race, Gay fielded questions about the preparation which led to it. "(My training) is exactly the same. The only difference was, instead of running 4x100m relays at Penn Relays, Texas Relays, I pushed it back some and ran three 400m races instead."
"I always open my season with a 200m, and I'm glad I stuck to the plan. I had some minor injuries early in the season, and I didn't rush it, I stuck to the plan and pushed it back a bit, opening with a 200m and still doing my strength training. I think it's really going to benefit my 100m."
Asked what he meant by "no speed-work", Gay explained, "Speed-work in practice is maybe 60m fast, 30m fast, running and running and running.”
“I haven't really touched it yet. I may have done a couple 60ms in practice, and some starts, that's considered speed-work, but I haven't really turned my body on. I've been doing 400m and longer distances."
From 2008 to 2012
Gay went on to talk about his recovery from the injury at the U.S. Trials which kept him from running the 200m in Beijing, and from the disappointment at the Olympics.
"It was very difficult. The biggest problem was getting over the 4x100m relay. I had to get that out of my mind. Also, being in such good shape and then to get hurt before the biggest race of my life sort of mentally drained the summer. When I went home for the summer, I didn't really do a lot of media. I didn't do any. I didn't go to my high school, or stuff like that. I felt like I let my city down, my state down, and my family down. I felt like that was selfish of me, and I had to get over it. I didn't want to be out a lot because I felt like I let a lot of people down. Once I started training, I felt I had to stay focused and redeem myself."
"(The London Olympics) aren't far away at all. At first it seems like four years is a long time, but when I considered it, I'm going to World Championships this year, and that's going to be exciting. Next year is an off year, and for track athletes that's a fun time, when you race each other and have fun. You don't have to worry about rounds, or making championships, et cetera.
The next year is World Championships again, and after that's Olympics.”
“So this year, World Champs, I'm going to have fun. Next year, off season, pick and choose, run a few races, and after that World Champs again... it's not far off to me, mentally."
Looking forward to races with Bolt
"(Bolt) is probably excited" about Gay's fast 200m, Gay speculated.
"I'm pretty sure he knows I'm a good curve runner, and he knows that will benefit him and he'll have good competition. He knows where his fitness is, because he ran 14.3 for 150m. He knows where my fitness is, now. I'm pretty sure he's looking forward to it."
"I'm trying to get my schedule set, maybe tomorrow, tomorrow night, I'll sit down with my agent and talk about my schedule, and my 100m schedule. I don't have any meets in mind. The only meet left for me before the Trials is maybe a meet in Florida, maybe Prefontaine. Right now I'm looking forward to just running the 100m to see where I'm at and I don't plan on doing the double at Nationals."
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015