The Jamaica Star :: Sport :: Gay predicts 'great showdown' with Bolt

Jamaica's Usain Bolt (left) and Tyson Gay of the USA compete during the men's 200 metres final at the 11th IAAF World Athletics Championship in Osaka, Japan last August. Both men will compete in the 100 metres in New York on May 31. - file

CARSON, California (CMC)

American double world sprint champion Tyson Gay has predicted a 'great showdown' with Jamaica's Usain Bolt when they compete for the first time in the 100 metres at the New York Grand Prix later this month.

"It's going to be a great showdown in New York," Gay told reporters.

"I think it's going to be an extremely fast time, especially if the wind is in our favour," he added.

"He's going to have a lot of fans cheering for him, and I think it's going to be more exciting than last year," Gay continued.

Last year, Gay ran a wind-assisted 9.76 seconds at the meet.

Second fastest time

Bolt legally registered the same time at the recent Jamaica International Invitational, recording on May 3 the second-fastest time ever in the 100 metres behind his compatriot Asafa Powell's world record 9.74, set late last summer.

Gay, 25, said though he was at the meet in Jamaica when Bolt ran his fast time, he did not see the race live.

"I didn't really get to watch the race live, but I saw it later on the computer," he said.

"He looked good, and it's certainly a fast time," he added.

The Reebok Grand Prix organisers have booked Bolt and Gay to clash in the 100 metres on May 31 at the Icahn Stadium on New York's Randalls Island.

Organisers believed Gay would have broken the then world record (9.77) last year when he scorched the Icahn Stadium track in 9.76 seconds.

He would "have broken the world record at the time had it not been for a tailwind (2.2), barely over the legal limit," organisers said.

Accolades

After his triumph in Osaka, Japan, Gay was named the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) Male Athlete of the Year, United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Sportsman of the Year, Track & Field News Magazine Man of the Year and winner of the Jesse Owens Award.

Bolt, who took the 200-metre and 4x100-metre World Championship silver medals in Osaka, is the 2002 World Junior Champion in the 200 metres, and holds the World Junior Record of 19.93 seconds for the distance.

Gay said he is looking forward to competing soon with Powell.

"At the moment, it's a little bit minor between me and Usain Bolt, not as major as myself and Asafa because Asafa has a title, a world record," Gay said.

"Usain Bolt has a fast time, but Usain Bolt is a people person," he added.

"A lot of people love him," Gay continued. "His home town loves him, and people across the world love him.

"He's a humble guy, he's a giant, he's funny and he's young," he said.