AREN’T BOTH GAY AND CAMPBELL COACHED BY LANCE BRAUMAN?
Osaka, Japan – When competition in the 100 metres gets underway this weekend, it will signal the beginning of a very busy championships for Tyson Gay and Veronica Campbell.
In their lead-up to Osaka, both cruised to impressive double dash victories at the U.S. and Jamaican championships, respectively, and both will set out to repeat those triumphs on the global stage this weekend.
While both have been among the world’s fastest in recent years –Campbell is of course the reigning Olympic 200m champion - Osaka could mark a pivotal point in their careers with each chasing their first world title.
Campbell’s ‘missing puzzle’
At just 25, Campbell already has a hefty haul of honours to her credit: well before her Olympic title, Campbell was a precocious talent, taking both World Youth and World Junior titles.
With the World championships, she said, “There’s a missing puzzle that I need to solve. So this is very important to me.”
Two years ago in Helsinki, Campbell was edged by just .02 seconds in the 100 to take the silver, but finished fourth and out of the medals in the 200.
Gay’s big meet pedigree is much like that of his prime rival, World record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica.
“I don’t have any medals,” said Gay, who reached the finish at the tail end of a top-four U.S. sweep in the 200 two years ago. “I don’t know what that feels like.”
Gay – ‘9.80 or faster’ needed to win
With his 9.84 and 19.62 performances this season to become the fastest combination sprinter in history, Gay certainly knows what speed feels like. And he knows that with Powell –and a few other standouts— on the start line, it will take a very fast performance indeed to claim the global crown.
“In the final I really believe that it’ll take 9.80 or faster [to win],” Gay said. “I’ve run 9.84 this year and feel I can go faster with the right wind conditions.” With the new track at Nagai stadium already gaining a reputation as a fast surface, Gay added, “I think it’s very possible for a World record to be broken.”
In the two years since Helsinki, Gay has clearly emerged as one of the world’s finest sprinters, learning from that first experience on the world stage.
“I was more excited in 05,” he said. “I think sometimes you can be too excited. When there’s 50,000 people there, cheering you on, I think I got too excited. But now, I’m a little more calm, and I’m understanding the professional part of the sport, what’s most important in preparing for a race. I’m ready to go out there and run now.”
Gay – Osaka visit not one ‘To do a lot of sightseeing’
While it’s been widely reported that Powell spent at least one late night out and about since arriving in Japan, Gay has decided to lay low.
“I’m not looking at this meet as a time when I could do a lot of sightseeing,” he said. “I have my goals to come home with some gold medals and have really been focused to get ready to compete.”
For Campbell, comparison to pre-Olympic form bodes well
While confident about her preparation, Campbell refused to make any predictions but did draw one comparison between her pre-Olympic form three years ago with her pre-Osaka form now.
“Before the Olympics I was No.1 in the 200 metres, and I went on and won the 200 metres,” she said. “Now I’m No. 1 in the 100 metres, and we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
Besides her world pacing 10.89 from the Jamaican championships, Cambell has also produced 10.91 and 10.93 clockings, more sub-11s than any other woman this season.
“The 200m is competitive, but I think the 100m is just as competitive. There are a lot of women who are running really well right now.”
In the 200, she’s clocked 22.39, but has raced in just three competitions over the distance since late June. Over the half lap she’ll face defending champion Allyson Felix and another American, 400m standout Sanya Richards. But she’s not thinking much about that particular battle just yet.
“At this point I’m just focusing on the 100 metres, and taking it one step at a time. And after the 100 is finished, I’ll put my focus on the 200 metres.”
Confident for Powell showdown
Gay too is thinking primarily about the short dash at the moment, which means the first showdown of the year with Powell, certainly among the most eagerly anticipated head-to-heads of these World championships.
“It’s what he’s been waiting for, it’s what I’ve been waiting for,” he said “I think the most important thing was that we both wanted to make sure we were 100 per cent injury-free before the opportunity (to race) came. He’s been undefeated for over a year now, and I’ve been undefeated this year, so I really feel it was the right thing to do.” And, he added, “I really feel confident coming into this race.”
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF