Did Gay really run a 9.79 in Clermont?

promise you it was a 9.79....shocked a lot of folks, but the timing was set-up, and wind was tested. just a shame injury had to happen. But these things do happen, and hopefully he can turn things around again come 2012

and he also beat a good field there....dominating Steve Mullings who has been running well.

It was an official meet at the National Training Center in Clermont. Travis Padgett was in the meet, as was Bryan Barnett (a name I think you might know). Barnett ran 10.31, which is comparable to times he ran at Willie Williams and Texas Arlington when I was there. So I don;t think there was anything wrong with the measurement or the timing.

It was on the same day as Pre Classic. I don't know if Adidas wanted to upstage them, or whether Gay doesn't respect the Eugene times. Even Usain Bolt has claimed recently that Eugene times aren't legitimate.

Gay has been injured all season. He was able to run well in Manchester and Clermont, which included significant time for recovery afterward. But he was not able to recover in the heats with only one day.

Taking another look at the results:

Event 6 Men 100 Meter Dash

=================================================================================

Name Year Team Seed Prelims Wind H#

=================================================================================

1 Gay, Tyson Adidas 9.69 9.79q 1.1 1

2 Ashmeade, Nickel Adidas 10.05 9.96q 1.1 1

3 Bledman, Keston Adidas 10.01 9.99q 2.3 4

4 Padgett, Travis Adidas 9.89 10.05q 2.2 2

Looks like it was an attempt by Adidas to upstage Pre Classic.

it was not an "upstage" attempt by any stretch....they didnt even promote the meet. Sounds like Tyson wasn't sure of his fitness/health and wanted to see where he was at. If he knew he was in 9.79 shape he would have made a lot more money running Pre (100K just to show up) then hitting a time-trial at his home track. But those guys all train down there....and its no surprise that Pre is a Nike meet, and as such a lot of the adidas guys couldn't get in.

Why would Eugene times be illegitimate?

Why??? wrote:

Why would Eugene times be illegitimate?

Because times run there are not replicated in summer meets in Europe. I don't think Bolt has mentioned another track in the world in this way, and he's not exactly the first person to say it.

We'll see if Jet or Alysia Montano replicate the times run in Eugene. Thus far they have not.

But what are the reasons for the illegitimacy ? Short track, mid-timing, faulty wind gauge ? And how do most of these apply to montano?

coach d wrote:

Why??? wrote:

Why would Eugene times be illegitimate?

Because times run there are not replicated in summer meets in Europe. I don't think Bolt has mentioned another track in the world in this way, and he's not exactly the first person to say it.

We'll see if Jet or Alysia Montano replicate the times run in Eugene. Thus far they have not.

So sick of this bullshit. Tell Bolt to get his happy butt to Eugene, run Pre, and find out just how fast that track is. Otherwise, STFU.

Are you saing this is like the Doha race in 2006?

(Gatlin equaled the WR of 9.77 but it was never ratified due his positive drug test earlier in the year.

And Fasuba of Nigeria ran 9.85. Never running sub 10 before that day or after)

Why??? wrote:

But what are the reasons for the illegitimacy ? Short track, mid-timing, faulty wind gauge ? And how do most of these apply to montano?

Any post by Sprint Geezer or coach d can be safely ignored.

Nothing but trolling and nonsense lie down that road.

So sick of this bullshit. Tell Bolt to get his happy butt to Eugene, run Pre, and find out just how fast that track is. Otherwise, STFU.

As Ato Bolton tweeted, Usain Bolt called out EVERYONE who ran fast at Pre. He has a very valid point with the blazing time Mullings ran at Pre and the not so blazing time Mullings ran against Bolt.

And lets face it, Usain Bolt right now is far bigger than Eugene. A jerkwater town full of wannabe losers who never win anything is not important enough for Bolt to want to bother going there.

Eugene is not the only place with the Benyon surface, but it is the only only one with these kinds of times. It wouldn't surprise me if the controversy is part of the reason for the present resurfacing efforts at Hayward Field.

Notorious, is that you?

It's hard to believe, but yes I do believe that Tyson legally ran a 9.79 at the Clemont track even despite injury problems. I remember reading something that said Tyson only got injured shortly before Clemont with the hip problem and it has been worsening to an almost unbearable problem going from the Clemont race to the U.S. trials.

Actually, Tyson seemed to be going along pretty well until the hip problem and in a good race it's not exactly hard to believe that he could clock a 9.79 guy with the talent and depth in sprinting these days. I just think Tyson had a good race and ran a good time and unfortunately got injured and things have got worse and worse since then. It's unfortunate, but it's the truth( or at least I believe).

It has come to my attention that not only did Gay and Bledman post questionable times in Clermont last year, but that all the fantastic times in the women's 100 were wind-aided, with a +2.9 wind now listed (Ahoure 10.86, Salomon 10.90, Harrigan 10.97).

Those times were all .10-.15 better than those runners run under legal conditions.

Similarly, Bledman's 9.93 (1.0) is about .10 better than his best before or since.

Same with Ashmeade and his alleged 9.96 (1.0)

I'm not going to go through an exhaustive analysis like I did for the Eugene .13 advantage, but I will roughly conclude that there is a .10 Clermont advantage.

That said, Gay's 9.79 should really have been around a 9.90, which is more plausible for a nothing race very early in the year, from an allegedly injured Gay.

Having said that, it has been 1.5 years since Gay has run a time that would put him in serious contention for a medal in the 100m in London. That's a LONG time! If he really did need that surgery, he should have had it earlier, like at the end of the 2010 outdoor season.

Gay is dedicated, for sure--but at some point one has to wonder if he retains the muscle memory required to run the kinds of stratospheric times he will need to succeed in the 100m in 2012.

9.7x is that "other level". 9.7x guys are qualitatively different than 9.8x guys--you know one when you see one (Blake is one, although he's only gone 9.82 with no wind).

If you thought US sprinting was weak before, what about now, with the top 2 guys, as far as anybody knows, out? (Gay and Rodgers) What is the US left with? Dix and Gatlin!

If Jamaica lost Bolt and Powell, they would still have Blake, effectively a 200m WR-holder! If they lost Bolt and Blake, they would still have Powell, a multiple 100m WR-holder. If they lost Powell and Blake, they would still have Bolt, the GOAT. Not to mention Carter, Frater, and others.

Hopefully the USA will have guys like Salaam and Demps stepping up to fill the possible void, or maybe Gatlin will benefit from the improved competitive opportunities that will come his way, and improve significantly.

At this point, I think that Gay has something to prove to everyone. He's not a factor, until he proves otherwise.

Any word from his camp?

Oh, and if Adidas wants to regain the upper hand, they will have to raise their .10 advantage to .15, to beat out the Eugene .13--at the very least they will have to up it to .13, to stay competitive.

Look for some laughable times to come out of Clermont this spring...but Eugene is 3 hours behind, and has the advantage of seeing what happens in Clermont, right? Look for even better times from Eugene, regardless of the weather.

Look Sprint Geeze, I've run on Clermont, the place is legit.

I think its easier to run there because of the warmth and well, the warmth. It feels like a resort. Who wouldn't want to workout and race there.

I believe the time.

I agree with you. Sprintdom is choked full of..wow!...times. The list of ...great time...then not much....a mile long.

Avante wrote:

I agree with you. Sprintdom is choked full of..wow!...times. The list of ...great time...then not much....a mile long.

Thats the nature of sprinting.