DES MOINES, June 23 – Tyson Gay flew to the year’s fastest 200m of 19.74 seconds at the US athletics championships on Sunday to set himself up for a World Championship sprint double challenge.
Gay, who notched the season’s fastest 100m on Friday with a victory in 9.75, again demonstrated he is fit and ready to take on six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt and his fellow Jamaican sprinters at the World Championships in Moscow on August 10-18.
Gay refused, however, to be drawn into any predictions as to how the US sprinters would stack up when the world’s best gather.
“I am going to do the best I can,” Gay said. “I can’t speak for the other guys but I am going to go out there and give it my best.”
As for his four days’ work in Des Moines, Gay said he was satisfied.
“I wish my 100 was a little bit better. I have enough time to work on that,” he said.
“My 200 was just an indication of my fitness. I’m definitely glad I was victorious.”
Gay’s 200m time eclipsed the 19.79 clocked by Bolt in Oslo on June 13 as the fastest in the world this year.
Gay powered through the curve and held on for the victory at Drake Stadium, with Isiah Young second in 19.86 and Curtis Mitchell third in 19.99.
Veteran Wallace Spearmon, a former world championships bronze and silver medallist, couldn’t book his Moscow berth, finishing fourth in 20.10.
Gay, 30, has been hindered by a series of injuries since winning three gold medals at the 2007 worlds.
A hamstring injury derailed his 2008 Olympic campaign and 2011 hip surgery to resolve several chronic problems saw him sidelined for almost a year. He was shut out of the medals in the 100m at the London Games last year.
Weary after his 100m victory, Gay had said he would consider dropping the 200m if he felt it threatened his fitness.
Securing the double, and emerging healthy, was a mental and physical boost.
“A little bit of pride, a little bit of ego,” he said of opting to go for it in the 200m. “I didn’t want to give up on myself.”
In the women’s 200m, US collegiate champion Kimberlyn Duncan pulled off an upset, running down 2012 Olympic champion Allyson Felix to win in a wind-aided 21.80sec.
Felix seemed somewhat surprised to find herself second in 21.85 with Jeneba Tarmoh third in 22.15.
“She just ran me down,” Felix said with a little laugh. “I felt like I had a lead coming off (the curve) and felt good coming down the home stretch and Kim came down and got me.”
Felix is slated to run the 200m at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on July 4. After that she’ll return home for some serious training before her bid to regain the world title she surrendered in Daegu in 2011. She had won world golds in 2005, 2007 and 2009.
Ryan Wilson was the upset winner of the 110m hurdles but world record-holder Aries Merritt did enough with his third-place finish to have a chance to add the world title to the Olympic gold he claimed last year.
Wilson won in 13.08 while David Oliver, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist who dominated the event in 2010 before he was hit by injury in 2011, was second in 13.11. Merritt clocked 13.23 and Jason Richardson, who has a bye into Moscow as the reigning world champion, was fourth in 13.24.
Merritt, who hadn’t raced until this week after straining a hamstring at the Shanghai Diamond League meet on May 18, said he had done what he set out to do, despite losing his rhythm at the fourth hurdle.
“I had to fight, because I knew I had to make the team,” he said. “At that point, I probably lost all form and was ghetto-ing it down the track.”
In other events on the final day, Olympian Duane Solomon won the 800m in a world-leading 1:43.27.
London Olympic gold medallist Jenn Suhr won the women’s pole vault with a clearance of 4.70m to punch her ticket to Moscow, where the host team is likely to feature world record-holder Yelena Isinbayeva.
“I’m inviting as many family members that will go over to Moscow as I can to help cheer for me,” Suhr said. “I think I’ll be an underdog there.”
LEADING RESULTS
Men
200m
Final (wind 1.6m/sec)
1. Tyson Gay 19.74sec, 2. Isiah Young 19.86, 3. Curtis Mitchell 19.99, 4. Wallace Spearmon 20.10, 5. Ameer Webb 20.20, 6. Maurice Mitchell 20.32, 7. Calesio Newman 20.37, 8. Dedric Dukes 20.45
800m
Final: 1. Duane Solomon 1:43.27, 2. Nick Symmonds 1:43.70, 3. Brandon Johnson 1:43.97, 4. Elijah Greer 1:45.04, 5. Tyler Mulder 1:45.13, 6. Erik Sowinski 1:45.21, 7. Michael Rutt 1:45.76, 8. Charles Jock 1:46.42
5,000m
Final: 1. Bernard Lagat 14:54.16, 2. Galen Rupp 14:54.91, 3. Ryan Hill 14:55.16, 4. Benjamin True 14:55.61, 5. Andrew Bumbalough 14:57.12, 6. Garrett Heath 14:58.85, 7. Elliott Heath 15:02.07, 8. Chris Solinsky 15:09.47, 9. Hassan Mead 15:11.76
3,000m Steeplechase
Final: 1. Evan Jager 8:20.67, 2. Danie Huling 8:22.62, 3. De’Sean Turner 8:25.56, 4. Donad Cowart 8:26.82, 5. Donald Cowart 8:33.95, 6. Donald Cabral 8:35.87
110m hurdles
Final (1.4m/sec):
1. Ryan Wilson 13.08, 2. David Oliver 13.11, 3. Aries Merritt 13.23, 4. Jason Richardson 13.24, 5. David Payne 13.43, 6. Omoghan Osaghae 13.47, 7. Joel Brown 13.52, 8. Jeffrey Porter 13.52
20,000m Race Walk
1. Tim Seaman 1:30:13.06, 2. Johnn Nunn 1:31:01,64, 3. Patrick Stroupe 1:31:08.73, 4. John Cody Risch 1:36:38.84, 5. Alejandro Chavez 1:37:00.25, 6. Michael Giuseppe Mannozz 1:37:10.37
High jump
Final: 1. Erik Kynard 2.28m, 2. Dustin Jonas 2.28, 3. Ronnie Black 2.25
Long jump
Final: 1. George Kitchens 8.23m, 2. Jeffrey Henderson 8.22, 3. Ronald Taylor 8.14
Javelin
Final: 1. Riley Dolezal 83.50m, 2. Sam Humphreys 83.14, 3. Sean Furey 77.36
Shot put
Final: 1. Ryan Whiting 22.11m, 2. Reese Hoffa 21.34, 3. Zack Lloyd 21.09
Women
200m
Final (3.2m/sec)
1. Kimberlyn Duncan 21.80, 2. Allyson Felix 21.85, 3. Jeneba Tarmoh 22.15, 4. Kamaria Brown 22.16, 5. Shalonda Solomon 22.33, 6. LaShaunte Moore 22.46, 7. Tiffany Townsend 22.51, 8. Chauntae Bayne 22.56
800m
Final: 1. Alysia Montano 1:58.67, 2. Brenda Martinez 1:58.78, 3. Ajee’ Wilson 1:59.55, 4. Kate Grace 2:00.10, 5. Laura Roesler 2:00.23, 6. Heather Kampf 2:00.68, 7. Amy Weissenbach 2:01.74, 8. Geena Gall 2:04.07
5,000m:
Final: 1. Jennifer Simpson 15:33.77, 2. Molly Huddle 15:35.45, 3. Shannon Rowbury 15:37.27, 4. Kim Conley 15:37.80, 5. Chelsea Reilly 15:38.50, 6. Abbey D’Agostino 15:39.17
400m hurdles:
Final: 1. Dalilah Muhammad 53.83, 2. Georganne Moline 53.88, 3. Christine Spence 54.56, 4. T’Erea Brown 55.05, 5. Cassandra Tate 55.45, 6. Turquoise Thompson 55.63, 7. Landria Buckley 57.17, 8. Jernail Hayes 58.27
Pole vault
Final: 1. Jenn Suhr 4.70m, 2. Kylie Hutson 4.60, 3. Becky Holliday 4.55
Discus
Final: 1. Gia Lewis-Smallwood 65.13m, 2. Whitney Ashley 61.19, 3. Elizabeth Podominick 60.69
