Powell Is Better Than Gay

They're really not. Here are the wind readings for Powell's WRs:

1.7

1.6

1.5

1.0

Gay, by contrast, has either had just over the allowable limit, or has been running into a headwind.

Plus, there's the whole 200m factor, in which Powell doesn't hold a candel to Gay.

whatever.

hear me now, believe me later, when all is said and done powell will be regarded as the greater sprinter.

Yeah, for all those gold medals he doesn't have.

The 9.84 that Gay ran at nationals would have been under 9.8, except for the headwind he was running into. Powell's WRs have all had just under the limit. The wind LOVES Asafa Powell and Hates Tyson Gay. We'll see who is better when Gay comes home from Bejing with three more Golds, a sub 9.8 and a 19.50

Powell has forfeit three world championsips and one olympics games, and is six months away from blowing his second olympic games. He could have been, at 25, the undisputed greatest athlete in the history of the sport by now. No-one with an attitude as resigned and complacent as his can be considered great.

As someone said, there are many variables that go into running fast times, the wind, the track surface, competition, getting a great start and catching an athlete at the perfect time in a season, etc. The only-only way to truly know who is the best is when they race each other; the person that wins is the best. (It is as simple as that.)

As dominating as Powell has been in many race leads me to say that he has not had his best races the last couple times he raced Gay. Powell is clearly better in terms of time and Gay is clearly better in terms of competitiveness, but when both are at the top of their game I personally can’t say who is better, but for right now the international governing body for T&F (IAAF) says Gay is number one and that is what we have to go by. – Hopefully this ends the thread.

Let me put my 1 million dollar worth comment in.

In the only race of their life against each other, Tyson Gay cruised past Asafa Powell like an Amboseli gazelle.

Asafa Powell knew where the finish line was having raced in the 100m race so many times before but he let (inadvertently or otherwise)Gay overtake him nevertheless.

Asafa Powell started quite well unlike GAy, accelerated well up until the 90th or so metre mark but Gay somehow found his form and flew past him.

They had ran this race a milllion times before -in their minds and in their dreams including the locker rooms minutes before this final-yet, Gay went past Powell.

In my view, and this is just my opinion, Asafa was beaten by the better man.

Asafa may not be tough mentally to rise to the occasion when it is required of him to do so and perhaps that is what he lacked on this vital day; the mental toughness to deliver.

Running is physical, it is speed, it is making the fewest mistakes and it is about heeding your coaches advice. It is all of those things. Both guys are almost equally good but one guy came out on top and that was Gay. That is why he is a world champion and Powell is not.

In all the races that Powell has broken records or run very well, Gay wasn't there but in the ohly race that they met, Gay won convincingly.

ONe more thing, Gay had the 200m. He delivered in a big way. Asafa for whatever reason didn't.

Gay also helped his team win the relays. HE went home with 3 gold medals. HE IS BETTER.

FULLSTOP.

END OF MY RANT.

NativeSon wrote:

In all the races that Powell has broken records or run very well, Gay wasn't there

The question is then, why wasn't he there?

All of the major meets last year were after Worlds yet Gay did not line up against Powell.

toro wrote:

NativeSon wrote:

In all the races that Powell has broken records or run very well, Gay wasn't there

The question is then, why wasn't he there?

All of the major meets last year were after Worlds yet Gay did not line up against Powell.

Sometimes you have to relish the moment. Tyson Gay knew that he had nothing to prove- at least immediately after the world Championships. HE had fallen a World record holder.

I meant 'felled.'

NativeSon wrote:

Let me put my 1 million dollar worth comment in.

In the only race of their life against each other, Tyson Gay cruised past Asafa Powell like an Amboseli gazelle.

they've raced other times.

both have had victories.

check your facts.

toro wrote:

NativeSon wrote:

In all the races that Powell has broken records or run very well, Gay wasn't there

The question is then, why wasn't he there?

All of the major meets last year were after Worlds yet Gay did not line up against Powell.

because he was DUCKING powell.... obviously, you win at worlds, you don't want to taint your new-found fame by suffering a humiliating loss to the guy you just beat.

you know what, the OP should go on to the jamaican letsrun equivalent (if it exists) and start a thread "gay is better than powell".... that would be funny.

as neither an american or a jamaican, i have the advantage of relatively un-biased judgement... and i say that the two are better at different aspects of sprinting. obviously, powell is better against the clock. gay is better in big races. in terms of pure ability, i'd have to go with powell (talking about strictly the 100m here). in terms of having the 'heart of a champion', i'd go with gay.

overall... who's better depends on what you value more: medals or times.

most people go with medals, so they choose gay.

some people make an argument for times, so they choose powell.

i don't think you can really say who's better in the general sense of the word. once again, and i'll keep going back to this, it depends what aspect of the sport you're talking about. period.

one thing's for sure, though:

no-one could make a case that powell is better in big races, nor could anyone make a case that gay is better against the clock.

Championships are not the end all, be all of rankings.

In 1991 Carl Lewis won the World Champs in World Record time yet Leroy Burrell was ranked number one for the year.

The 1500 is a great example.

In 1980 Coe won the Olympics, Ovett was ranked #1

In 1984 Coe won again, Aouita was ranked #1

In 1988 Peter Rono won the Games, Steve Cram was ranked #1

In 1992 Cacho won in Barcelona, Morceli was ranked #1

In 1996 Morceli won and was ranked #1

In 2000 Ngeny won in Sydney, El G was ranked #1

In 2004 El G won the Olympics, Lagat was ranked #1

So there is precedent to say that Powell is better if he had a better year overall.

Look at the performance list and the GP victories.

geronimo wrote:

NativeSon wrote:

Let me put my 1 million dollar worth comment in.

In the only race of their life against each other, Tyson Gay cruised past Asafa Powell like an Amboseli gazelle.

they've raced other times.

both have had victories.

check your facts.

I stand corrected.