EUGENE, Oregon--A huge tailwind helped propel Tyson Gay through the finals of the 100 meters at the United States Olympic track and field trials.Even though the wind disqualified his time of 9.68 from being a world record, it was still the fastest time ever run under any wind conditions.
It instantly set up an Olympic showdown between Gay and the world-record holder, Usain Bolt, of Jamaica, as perhaps the biggest looming moment of the Beijing Games.
“It’s gong to be a great race,” Gay said, already sneaking a peak at the Olympic matchup.
“I was excited when I saw the time today, but I didn’t know what the wind was.”
When Gay sliced through the finish line in American record time in the quarterfinals, it seemed he had already made his big run of the trials, but it turns out that 9.77 (with a legal wind) was only the beginning.
His race came with a tailwind of 4.1 meters per second (the equivalent of 9.5 miles per hour), far above the allowable limit of 2.0.
It still dented the limits of what is possible.
“The wind doesn’t really ‘assist’ you,” said Harvey Glance, a relay gold medalist in the 1976 Olympics and a longtime college coach.
“You don’t really know how much the wind really aided him in the time itself.
“I guess the 9.68 speaks for itself because no human being has ever done it before. Regardless of what the wind was, it was a historic moment.”
The previous best run was by Obadele Thompson of Barbados, who ran a 9.69 in a meet in 1996 with a tailwind of 5.3 meters per second, or 12 mph.
The conditions at Hayward Field have been perfect for fast times this weekend, with hot temperatures and tailwinds for the sprinters, who have been putting down incredible times all weekend.
However, Gay jumped to the head of the class.
Just a few weeks after being trounced by Bolt at a meet at Randall’s Island when Bolt set the world record of 9.72, Gay bounced back in what it is considered by many to be a tougher meet than the Olympics.
The top three make the Olympic team, regardless of past history or success or records.
“Coming in here, everything we did was about beating people, not about time,” said Gay’s coach, the two-time Olympic sprinter Jon Drummond.
When Gay finished the race, he immediately rushed to congratulate Walter Dix, who finished second in 9.80, Darvis Patton was third in 9.84.
Missing out by one hundredth of a second was Travis Padgett, who ran a 9.85 and could hardly believe he was on the outside looking in at the Olympic berths with such a fast time.
The field, though, was just that good.
“Tyson ran a great race,” Dix said. “I was just trying to run him down.
“Now, he knows how it feels to run a 9.6 and I know what it feels to run a 9.8. That will favor us. We know how it feels in your legs and it’s pretty possible to do it legal.”
“It’s impressive regardless of the wind. I’ve never seen it done before.”
Gay’s meet started in adventurous fashion, pulling up too early in the first round when he misjudged where the finish line was.
He realized his error and barely avoided being eliminated. It was an inauspicious start that he turned into a footnote with his blazing run in the quarterfinals.
He outdid himself again in the finals.
He got a good start and in the first 20 meters started pulling ahead of the field. By 50 meters, his victory was no longer a matter of if, but of by how much.
“All I thought about was running through the finish line,” Gay said.
The crowd at Hayward Field, which topped 20,000 for the third straight day, roared when they saw the time.
They were quickly told by the announcer that the wind disqualified it from being a record, but the excitement remained.
“I think it’s still pretty impressive,” said Padgett, despite his own disappointment. “Even if you have a 4.1 wind behind you, if you can run a 9.68, I think that’s great.”
“There’s a lot of people who have had that kind of wind who haven’t run that fast,” he said.
