Gay sets sights on 200 at Grand Prix

By Christopher Hunt

NEW YORK – Tyson Gay turned to Jamaica’s Asafa Powell and Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago, sitting at the podium with him, and laid out the atmosphere for the Reebok Grand Prix Saturday at Ichan Stadium.

“There’s definitely going to be more Caribbean fans, probably even more than American fans,” he said. “It’s going to be like a small Penn Relays. You guys are going to have a lot of support. … A lot of support.”

The Reebok Grand Prix will be without Usain Bolt, the Jamaican phenomenon that first broke the 100-meter world record at the meet last year then set the world on fire by breaking 100 and 200 records, then adding his third gold medal with a world-record performance in the 4x100 relay at the Beijing Olympics. That leave the world left to watch how Gay responds to a disastrous Olympic Games after injuring his hamstring at the Olympic Trials in July.

But instead of lining up for the 100, Gay chose to compete in the 200 meters Saturday. He said he pushed back his training schedule because of a knee injury suffered in November. He ran 45.57 in the 400 at the Texas Invitational May 2, a time that would have put him fifth at last summer’s Olympic Trials but he said he considers this the start of his season and he normally would open with a 200.

“I don’t want to press and try to run fast,” Gay said. “I just want to be technically sound and see what that brings me.”

Gay said he didn’t want to focus so much on simply running fast but what the effects of running fast would have on his body.  Much of that had to do with how his body reacted to running a wind-aided 9.68 at the Olympic Trials.

“I took my body someplace that it’s never been before,” he said.  “I even spoke to a doctor and he said, you know, I went from running 9.8 to 9.7 and then ran 9.6. Sometimes the body takes longer than a week to recover.”

Pushing his body that hard ended his him crashing to the track in the 200 heats at the Trials and later failing to make the final in the 100 in Beijing.  He said he need to be conscious of not trying to floor it through ever repetition in practice or worry about what’s going to happen to him if he runs too fast in the rounds at an individual. He even pointed to Bolt’s laid back style.

“He’s out there having fun,” Gay said. “He wants to run fast but I don’t think he’s worried about all that.”

In fact, lots of the questions pointed at Gay had something to do with Bolt or Jamaica’s dominance in the world of sprinting.  It’s been that way ever since Jamaica cleaned house at the Olympics.

“You have to give props when props are due,” he said. “You can’t say track and field without saying Usain Bolt.”

Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.