|
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Soon after his dominating 19.78 victory in Lausanne last night, Tyson Gay found himself answering lots of questions about his knees. When asked of one of the fastest humans in history, the topic is one of general interest but Gay, who last season emerged as the world's latest sprint star, isn't yet accustomed to such probing.
And he found the attention quite amusing.
He chuckled with print journalists, laughed with radio commentators, and smiled to TV reporters. Everyone, at one point or another, asked about his knee.
Backtrack. The day prior to the race, Gay said that he's been hobbled by a sore knee since his demanding and commanding weekend at the US Championships nearly three weeks ago when he blistered to the 100 and 200 meter titles, clocking 9.84 and 19.62, both world-leading performances. The Lausanne 200 was his first race since, and any injury, no matter how minor, was a major topic of speculation.
"It's doing OK," he said. "Right now the momentum's still flowing but later on it may ache a little bit. But right now I'm feeling confident that it's healed."
The ache limited him to less than a handful of workouts since the U.S. Championships, and played a role in the waning stages of his outing in Lausanne.
"It was just fatigue," he said, explaining his shut down over the final 20 meters. "I haven't run in any races since the US championships so I was just a little tired."
A "tired" 19.78 in chilly conditions --more than .3 seconds ahead of his nearest rival-- bodes well as he looks ahead towards the world championships late next month, but Gay remains cautious about calling himself the man to beat.
"Well, kind of," he said after a long pause. "Because I have been victorious over those guys several times. Right now I just really want to stay healthy so I can win the gold medal at the World championships."
Gay described his win a "pretty good" given the conditions "and this being my first race off the plane. I didn’t really know what the time was going to be considering it was so cold. I didn't think anyone would run 19 seconds. 19.9 maybe. I was surprised when the time came up on the board."
"I never really doubted myself that I couldn't win," he added, "but at the same time I'm not 100 percent right now."
He may run one more 200 before Osaka --he's currently mulling over Stockholm's DN Galan meet on August 7-- but his more immediate attention is on his next race, the 100 in Sheffield, England at Sunday's Norwich Union British Grand Prix.
Gay said he appreciates the attention he, and in this particular case, his knee, has been receiving.
"It feels good that some people look up to me," he said. "It really makes me happy that I can make some people happy. Signing autographs, taking pictures with people. I'm not used to that, but it feels kind of good."
But he stopped short of describing 100 meter world record holder Asafa Powell a rival.
"It's not quite a rivalry yet, but I'm hoping to step up to the plate so it can be a rivalry soon. When he's healthy and I'm healthy and when we race I hope we can put on a good show for everybody."
Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest
| 
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?