Bolt ends on high .. Gay bows out on low

So Bolt retained his top dog status after beating Powell in what will probably be the last outing for him in Europe.

Tyson Gay, following stating he was in good shape at the Olympics wound this back to "not 100 percent" before this race and then, not wanting to risk injury (his statement), pulled out.

Much like Lui in Beijing his pull-out was easily forseshadowed by statements that indicated his lack of ability to win laying the foundations of an excuse for failure even if he did race.

It's sad to see the once powerful US runner "run away" from racing yet again however one now has to ask if the problem is not his leg but in his mind. A repeat of his pattern of race ducking after the World titles perhaps?

It's far too early to write him of though. Sprinters often enjoy a long time at the top ... and he could be a force in London.

Right now by competitive standards he's nowhere, for whatever reason; he can only improve over the winter.

For all the promise great athletes show none could be as dramatic in outcomes as this seasons ending.

Bolt closed out head held high giving the world one of the greatest sprinting displays of all time and turning in emphatic post Olympic runs; to cap off his three gold medals. Powell didn't shine as brightly as hoped at the right time though played a crucial part in Bolts relay gold.


Tyson Gay in contrast seems to have managed to run his season with multiple errors from the moment he got injured .. from bungles that hurt him and eventually crippled his teams prospects to perhaps a season closing on a no-show.

Spearmon wins Shanghai 100m as Powell says "not allowed" to race Gay

Powell dominated Shanghai at 200m in China as a tired Gay faded over 100m to bow out to Spearmon as the season edges to a close.

Wallace Spearmon beat Tyson Gay in the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix this Friday as the World champion lost form.

World 100m and 200m champion Gay blasted out of the blocks but at 80m his US teammate Spearmon went ahead beat him to the line in 9.96 seconds.

Gay clocked 10.02 with Jamaica's Michael Frater third.

"I'm very excited about this performance. Last year I ran a personal best here and this year I've done the same," said the winner ...

Gay admitted he had been resting since the world championships in Osaka and there was never a true race in him really; let alone one against dominant Asafa Powell.

"Wallace Spearmon ran a great race. I was just a little bit rusty," accoring to Gay.

"I haven't done a lot of training, I've been resting and relaxing." Trips to London for his sponsors Adidas and the pressure of the World crown sees the Osaka win appear more and more like a gift from a mistake by Powell than a true triumph for Gay. He closes out the season World champion but not world #1.

That goes to Asafa Powell set a new 100m world record of 9.74sec in Italy earlier this month.

Powell in a surprise twist claimed he was "not allowed" to face Gay at Shanghai in a rematch of their world championship final : www.100m.com and www.200m.com doubted the two would race after Osaka and its looking like things will run out at that now.

Powell pulled out the stops to wow the Chinese crowd and stormed the 200m in 20 seconds close to his personal best. America's Rodney Martin was second Jamaica's Christopher Williams third.

Tyson Gay "planning" to run in Shanghai, Japan, Korea

he is planning to compete

It remains to be seen when, if at all, the double world champion puts his reputation on the line and races Powell the fastest man on earth. If past records are an indication of anything he may not do that in the last three big meetings in Asia. Fresh off his medal haul in Osaka he will be unlikely to risk ending the season in second place on the track as well as in the record book unless the rewards are simply too rich to pass up. Only his management team know and at the moment its in the "planning" stage.

Gay may elect do a relay if he is still tired.

follows:

Report: Gay to run in Yokohama
The Yomiuri Shimbun

Newly crowned world sprint champion Tyson Gay will return to Japan later this month to run in the Super Meet in Yokohama, his management company was quoted as saying in a Reuters report on Wednesday.

In commenting on Gay's withdrawal from the Golden League meet in Brussels on Friday--which ended hopes of a possible rematch with rival Asafa Powell--a spokeswoman for Global Sports Management said Gay would be competing in three meets in Asia.

"Tyson is taking a break as he recovers from the world championships and will not run in Brussels," Barbara Huebner of Global Sports was quoted as saying. "But he is planning to compete in meets at Shanghai, China; Yokohama, Japan and Daegu, South Korea."

World Record to Powell as Gay is nowhere

ROME:

Asafa Powell hit a new world 100m record of 9.74 seconds at the IAAF Grand Prix at Rieti, Italy, yesterday sending the clear signal that he is the fastest man on eath right now and the Americans, so dominant in Osaka at the World Championships, were nowhere to be seen.

His old mark of 9.77 had stood since Athens (June 2005) and this run underlines the fact that Powell simply suffered from a bad case of tying up as Tyson Gay overhauled him in Osaka.

The 24-year-old Powell had said at the beginning of August that he felt he was capable of beating the world record in 2007 saying he could run "9.74 or 9.73, even below 9.70."

Powell flew away in the race ahead of Norway's Saidy Ndure Jaysuma (10.07) and 2003 world champion from St Kitts and Nevis, Kim Collins (10.14).

Tyson Gay leads 100m world sprint assult at Zurich Weltklasse

Newly crowned world spint champion and number one fastman on the planet Tyson Gay is planeed to be joined by Atkins, Burns, Devoish, Fasuba, Lewis-Francis, Obikwelu, Osounikar and Pickering in the 100m race at the Zurich event on September 7, 2007.

Will he be able to repeat his Osaka win or will the Britsports guys stage a powerful display on a track a lot closer to home?

Other events timetabled include:


Wednesday, September 5th, 2007, 1 p.m.: media get-together at the Hotel Crowne Plaza with Tyson Gay (USA) - multiple world champion (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay)

Thursday, September 6th, 2007, 1 p.m.: media get-together at the Hotel Crowne Plaza with Bernard Lagat (USA) - 3000m, Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) - pole vault, Sanya Richards (USA) - 400m, Christine Ohuruogu (GBR) - 400m, Wallace Spearmon (USA) - 200m, Usain Bolt (JAM) - 200m, Xavier Carter (USA) - 200m

Will Gay run 100m in Shanghai ?

The Shanghai Golden Grand Prix has only hurdlers and 400m star Wariner listed as running right now on its website but the news on the media feeds suggests that a cluster of world class athletes will be there. The hurdles line up is looking good though !

Watch this site www.400m.com and www.200m.com for latest confirmations as the athletes come back to Asia after doing battle in Europe.

UPDATE 4/9/07: The Shanghai Golden Grand Prix "Total athletes’ list" has just been posted at http://sports.sina.com.cn/shgoldengp_en/star.shtml.