Tyson Gay Returns to Competition, Wins 100 Meters in Paris

U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay returned to international track competition at the beginning of July, finishing second to fellow American Justin Gatlin in the 100 meters at a meet in Lausanne, Switzerland on July 3rd, and then followed that up by winning the event at the IAAF Diamond League meet in Paris on July 7th. His time was 10.07, not bad for a race held in the rain.  Gay was returning from a one year doping ban that also took away his only Olympic medal to date, a silver in the 4 X 100 relay in the London Games in 2012.

Gay has the second fastest time ever in the 100 meters at 9.69. Usain Bolt of Jamaica is the record holder at 9.58.  Gay, however has not had anywhere near the success in the Olympics that Bolt has had.  In addition to the medal stripped from him in the 2012 relay, Gay finished fourth in the 100 meters in London, behind Bolt, Jamaica’s Yohan Blake, and Gatlin.  He was hampered by a hamstring injury during the 2008 games in Beijing, and didn’t come close to the podium.

Since winning Gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and  the 4 X 100 relay at the World Championships in 2007, Gay’s career has been a combination of injuries at the worst time and bad decisions, as in the case of his doping ban.  Gay claimed he trusted an unnamed individual and was “let down”, apparently trusting that whatever substance he was supplied was legal.  That’s probably the second most popular response given when athletes are caught, behind only outright lying and denying (ahem cough, cough, Lance Armstrong).

Gay says he’d like to continue sprinting at least through the 2016 Olympics.  He said he continued to train even though he couldn’t compete, and these two finishes show he’s still a world class sprinter.  He’ll turn 34 during the Rio Games in 2016, and it will be a challenge to be an Olympic medal caliber sprinter at that time.