{{MedalTableTop|Tyson Gay 100m Champion.JPG|225px|Tyson Gay at the AT&T USA Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis.}}

{{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }}

{{MedalSport | Men’s [[Athletics (track and field)|athletics]]}}

{{MedalCompetition|[[IAAF World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]}}

{{MedalGold | [[2007 World Championships in Athletics|2007 Osaka]] | 100 m}}

{{MedalGold | [[2007 World Championships in Athletics|2007 Osaka]] | 200 m}}

{{MedalGold | [[2007 World Championships in Athletics|2007 Osaka]] | 4x100 m relay}}

{{MedalBottom}}

'''Tyson Gay''' (born [[August 9]], [[1982]] in [[Lexington, Kentucky]]) is an [[United States of America|American]] [[Sprint (race)|sprinter]] who won gold medals at the [[100 metres]], [[200 metres]] and [[ 4 x 100 metres relay| 4 x 100 m]] at the [[2007 World Championships in Athletics]] in Osaka, Japan. Tyson Gay is most notable for running the fastest 100 meters in history, although his time of 9.68 is not officially recognized because of a 4.1 m/s windspeed, exceeding the [[IAAF]] legal limit of 2 m/s.

==Biography==

Gay was an outstanding sprint athlete and won several state titles while attending [[Lafayette High School (Lexington, Kentucky)|Lafayette Senior High School]] in Lexington, Kentucky.

He competed collegiately at [[Barton Community College]] and the [[University of Arkansas]] and in 2004 he won the 100 metres event at the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] Outdoor Championships as well as achieving a time of 10.06 seconds in June.

==Professional career==

===2005===

In 2005, Tyson Gay concentrated more on the 200 metres event, setting a personal best time of 19.93 seconds in June. This result placed him second on the world statistic lists, behind college teammate and training partner [[Wallace Spearmon]]. Gay competed in the 200 metres at the [[2005 World Championships in Athletics]] and finished fourth to complete an American 1-2-3-4 sweep, the first time any nation has achieved this in a world championship athletics event. Gay's aim of being the fastest runner in the world for the third leg of the 4 x 100 metres relay was unfulfilled after the bad baton exchange between [[Mardy Scales]] and [[Leonard Scott]] that resulted in the United States disqualification in the event. Tyson went on to run the 200 metres in the Norwich Union Athletics Grand Prix in Sheffield, England and came second, being beaten by the double (100 meters & 200 metres) 2005 world champion Justin Gatlin. Justin won in 20.04 and Tyson Gay ran 20.09.

Tyson Gay ended the season in 19.96 at the World Athletics final running into a -1.5m/ headwind.

===2006===

In 2006, Gay steadily improved his performances. On July 11, he ran a time of 19.70 seconds, at the IAAF Grand Prix in [[Lausanne, Switzerland]], finishing second behind [[Xavier Carter]]. On July 21, in [[Rethymno]], he competed in the 100 metres contest in a time of 9.88 seconds. He improved his 100 metres performance on August 18 in Zurich, Switzerland, where he ran a time of 9.84 seconds, finishing second place to Jamaica's [[Asafa Powell]], who equaled his world record of 9.77 seconds for the third time.

Gay continued to improve his 200 metres performance on September 10 in [[Stuttgart, Germany]], when he reached the finish line in 19.68 seconds and tied [[Frank Fredericks]]'s time. In this race, he ran the unofficial fastest time for the first half of the 200 m, reaching the half-way mark in 9.96 seconds. [[Michael Johnson (athlete)|Michael Johnson]] held the previous fastest time of 10.12 seconds during his 19.32-seconds world-record run at the [[1996 Summer Olympics]] in Atlanta, Georgia. By the end of 2006, Gay was ranked second in the world at both 100 m and 200 m by the [[IAAF]], and was fourth on the all-time lists for both events.

===2007===

Gay started his 2007 season with two impressive wind-aided performances in the 100 m, achieving a time of 9.79 seconds at the Adidas Track Classic in Carson, [[California]], United States on May 20, and 9.76 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix on June 2. With the absence and suspension of [[Justin Gatlin]] for doping offenses, Gay was considered to be the main challenger for Asafa Powell in the 100 meters event in 2007.

On June 22, 2007, at the AT&T USA Track and Field Championships in [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], Gay won the 100 m with a time of 9.84 seconds, which was at the time the second fastest performance ever into headwind, after former world record-holder [[Maurice Greene (athlete)|Maurice Greene]]'s time of 9.82 seconds.<ref>{{cite web

| url = http://www.iaaf.org/WCH07/news/Kind=2/newsId=39192.html

| title = Gay runs 9.84 world season lead into the wind – US Champs

| accessdate = 2007-06-23

| publisher = [[IAAF]]

| date = June 23, 2007

}}</ref> He finished 0.23 seconds ahead of second-place contender [[Trindon Holliday]]. On June 24, two days after his 100 metres victory, Gay won the 200 meters race with a time of 19.62 seconds making him the second fastest runner in history, in this event.

On August 26, 2007 at the [[IAAF World Championships in Athletics]] in [[Osaka]] [[Japan]], he defeated world record holder Asafa Powell with a time of 9.85 seconds, to become the new 100 meters world champion.<ref>{{cite web

| url = http://www.cnn.com/2007/SPORT/08/26/athletics.gay/index.html?eref=rss_latest

| title = Gay blazes to world 100m title win

| accessdate = 2007-08-26

| publisher = [[CNN]]

| date = August 26, 2007

}}</ref> Four days later, he ran a new championship record time of 19.76 seconds to win the 200 metres event. Gay became the third sprint athlete in history, along with Maurice Greene and Justin Gatlin, to win both the 100 m and 200 m at the World Championships in Athletics. <ref>{{cite web

| url = http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SPORT/08/30/athletics.gay/

| title = Gay powers to Osaka sprint double

| accessdate = 2007-08-30

| publisher = CNN

| date = August 30, 2007

}}</ref> Two days later, he won his third gold medal on the meet after an American victory in the 4 x 100 metres relay event, achieving a time of 37.78 seconds.<ref> {{cite web

| url = http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SPORT/09/01/athletics.men

| title = U.S. relay win secures Gay Treble

| accessdate = 2007-09-01

| publisher = CNN

| date = September 1, 2007

}}</ref> Gay joined [[Marita Koch]], [[Carl Lewis]], Michael Johnson, Maurice Greene and [[Allyson Felix]], as the only athletes in history to win triple gold medals at a single World Championship competition.

In part for his exploits at the 2007 World Championships, Gay was selected as the IAAF male World Athlete of the Year for 2007 and the 2007 Men's Athlete of the Year by ''[[Track and Field News]]''.<ref>{{cite web

| url = http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=42502.html

| title = For Defar and Gay, near perfection in 2007

| accessdate = 2007-11-27

| publisher = IAAF

| date = November 26, 2007

}}</ref> He was also award the USATF's [[Harrison Dillard]] award as the US's top male sprinter.<ref>http://www.usatf.org/statistics/awards/TF/HarrisonDillardAward.asp</ref>

===2008===

On [[June 28]], [[2008]], in the 100 meters quarterfinal at the [[U.S. Olympic Trials]] in [[Eugene, Oregon]], Gay finished in 9.77 seconds, setting an [[United States records in track and field|American record]] and sliding into 3rd all-time.<ref>[http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OLY_ATH_TRACK_TRIALS_US_RECORD_100] Gay sets US record in 100 with 9.77

</ref>. In the 100 m final the following day, Gay finished first in a wind-aided 9.68 (+4.1 m/s), the fastest ever 100 m under any conditions, bettering the 9.69 time of [[Obadele Thompson]] which stood for 12 years. The current men's world record of 9.69&nbsp;s is held by [[Usain Bolt]] of [[Jamaica]], set in Beijing on August 16, 2008.<ref name="top100">{{cite web|url=http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=O/age=N/season=0/sex=M/all=y/legal=A/disc=100/detail.htmx|title=Top List - 100m|work=IAAF|accessdate=2008-08-16}}</ref>

On [[July 5]], Gay injured his hamstring qualifying for the 200 meters. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Gay failed to qualify for the 100m men's final, finishing fifth in the second semifinal with an official time of 10.05 seconds. Speaking afterwards with reporters about his performance, Gay fully denied that he was hampered by his past injury and was running at a full 100% capability. However, even after Gay's denial of prior injury having a negative impact, media and fans continue to view his performance with some scrutiny, particularly because of the pain in his face after the race. During a post-race interview with Australia's [[Seven Network|7 Television Network]], Gay was noticeably crying.

==Personal bests==

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!Event

!Time

!Wind

!Place

!Date

|-

|100 m

|9.77

| +1.7 m/s

|[[Eugene, Oregon]], [[United States|U.S.]]

|June 27, 2008

|-

|200 m

|19.62

| &minus;0.3 m/s

|[[Indianapolis, Indiana]], U.S.

|[[June 24]], [[2007]]

|}

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==

*[http://www.tysongay.net Tyson Gay Official website]

*[http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Gay_Tyson.asp USATF (Athlete Biography): Tyson Gay]

*{{iaaf name|id=185464|name=Tyson Gay}}

*[http://www.spikesmag.com/athletes/Heroes/tysongay.aspx SPIKES Hero profile on www.spikesmag.com]

*[http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1819129_1819134_1825726,00.html "Tyson Gay"], n°10 on ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"

<br>

{{start box}}

{{s-awards}}

{{succession box|title=[[Track & Field Athlete of the Year|Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year]]|before={{flagicon|JAM}} [[Asafa Powell]]|after=[[Incumbent]]|years=[[2007 in athletics (track and field)|2007]]}}

{{s-sports}}

{{succession box|before={{flagicon|USA}} [[Xavier Carter]]|title=[[200 metres#Men.27s_Seasons_Best|Men's 200m Best Year Performance]]|years=[[2007 in athletics (track and field)|2007]]|after=[[Incumbent]]}}

{{end box}}

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{{Footer World Champions 100 m Men}}

{{Footer World Champions 200 m Men}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, Tyson}}

[[Category:1982 births]]

[[Category:Living people]]

[[Category:African American sportspeople]]

[[Category:American sprinters]]

[[Category:University of Arkansas alumni]]

[[Category:People from Lexington, Kentucky]]

[[Category:Arkansas Razorbacks track athletes]]

[[Category:Athletes at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]

[[Category:Olympic athletes of the United States]]

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