Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Forget Beijing '08, it's going down in Osaka this weekend: Powell vs. Gay

The Beijing Olympics are just a year away, but I can't wait that long. It's time to switch gears for a little bit, literally. Those of you who are tired of our basketball and football pontificating, might appreciate some track. How about 9.75 seconds worth?

If Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay can escape allegations of doping -- or somehow avoid drug testing altogether -- we may see the world record drop by a couple tenths before the Olympics, when they meet at the world championships, which kicks off this weekend in Osaka.

I saw Powell shut it down after 70 meters and stroll through the finish line at 9.90 seconds a few weeks ago in Rome. That made me think that yardie's just waiting for the big stage and the right competition, to break his own world record of 9.77 seconds -- that he's matched three times.

Here's his easy sprint home in Rome:


Since Justin Gatlin's out of the picture, Tyson Gay is the only man who can out stride Powell. He has the year's fastest time and he already beat Powell's world record time, although unofficially, when he ran a wind-aided 9.76 seconds. See it here:

So weigh in. Gay or Powell. Who's going to be the world's fastest man?

4 comments:

Chart Smart said...

Nice Blog :)

Justin said...

Okay cool. But who's going to win the race and why?

Brandon said...

Powell better get out on Gay cuz that boy is strong... that dude on the inside has him by a whole step, then he ended up off the screen... HAHAHA

I woulda acted like I pulled my hami if someone passed me that fast.

What day/time/network do I need to watch this 9.74 second race that it'll be? Yea I said, 9.74.

Justin said...

Couldn't find it in the tv guide. The time change may be throwing everything off.

100m finals is Sunday. You can watch online at WCSN.com

Also, the 400m finals are Wednesday. Look our for Jeremy Wariner. He's getting closer to Johnson's 400m record every race.

If I get more info on times, I'll post an update.