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Bolt and Gay highlight in London, Day 2 - IAAF World Athletics Tour

Posted by CaribShout on July 25, 2009 at 8:07pm

Usain Bolt in full flow 4x100m relay mode in London (Getty Images) London, UK - There were world leading performances for Lashinda Demus and Tirunesh Dibaba on the second day of the Aviva London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace today but it was sprinters Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay who again captured the headlines. The Aviva London Grand Prix is a Super Grand Prix status meeting as part of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2009. I knew we ran fast - Bolt Bolt led a quartet of Jamaicans representing the Racers Track Club to a blistering time in the men’s 4x100m relay, a race missing Gay, the American having injured his groin winning the 200m earlier in the afternoon. The triple Olympic champion anchored his team of Daniel Bailey, Yohan Blake and Mario Forsythe to 37.46sec, the fourth fastest in history. Only Jamaica’s Olympic gold winning run of 37.10 in Beijing and two USA performances of 37.40 at the Barcelona Olympic Games and the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart have ever been quicker. But the result wasn’t without controversy for initial amazement soon turned to disappointment when the Racers TC team was disqualified for a changeover violation between Bailey and Blake. The athletes insisted they had been well within the allowable area and relief came when the track referee upheld an appeal and reinstated the original result. “Obviously I was very disappointed when I first heard (we were disqualified) but I’m happier now,” said Bolt who was soon mobbed by fans wearing Jamaican green and yellow. “I knew we ran fast,” he added. Indeed they did. Bolt already had a handsome lead as he was handed the baton from Forsythe but the World record holder stretched away from the field in majestic style to bring the two-day meeting to a rapturous conclusion. Gay’s absence left the USA team of Terrence Trammell, Wallace Spearmon, Shawn Crawford and Rae Edwards some distance adrift in second, clocking 38.05, with Great Britain third in 38.44. Gay’s troubles began about 30m from the line in the 200m, a race he made light work of winning in 20.00, three clear metres ahead of Spearmon (+0.4). But the triple World champion eased off as the groin began to tighten in the home straight and claimed later he could have run 19.80 “at least” on full blast. “I’m just trying to run through the pain and be tough about it,” he said, clearly in some discomfort after the race when he was taken straight to the physio. His chances of defending both titles in Berlin must now be in jeopardy. “I’m just taking it one day at a time,” he said. “Any time there is any sort of pain you get frustrated. I haven’t trained for a couple of weeks and I’ve had a bit of bad luck. We’ll see.” Gay added that he thought he would be “OK” with a bit of massage but it will be greeted as good news in the Bolt camp, not that Gay is happy to hand the Jamaican the advantage. “He knows that I am close to being the only one who can beat him,” said Gay. Spearmon clocked 20.35 for second and Ireland’s Paul Hession was third in 20.40 his best of 2009.

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