Tyson Gay, making up for his faux pax in the first round, where he barely made the second round in the 100 meters, blasted a new American record with his 9.77 for 100 meters!
Gay got out of the blocks perfectly, and moved away from the entire field, shutting down at 90 meters, but this time as he jogged across the line, he had some serious room! His 9.77 run shows that this man, when ready and peaked, will run better than the WR! Gay broke Maurice Greene’s AR from 1999 in Athens of 9.79, the Olympic Trials of 9.91 from 2004 set by Greene and the Hayward record of 9.88, set by 2004 Olympic 200 meter gold medalist Shawn Crawford, set in 2004.
In second was high schooler Jeff Demps, who broke four records today. His 10.12 in the first round broke the Florida record of one Houston McTear set way back in 1976! Now, his 10.01 breaks the American Junior Record of Walter Dix of 10.06 from 2005, and the World Junior record of 10.08, set by Darrel Brown from Trinidad and Tobago from 2003. And Jeff Demps final record of the day was the national high school record of 10.08 set by J-Mee Samuel from 2005! A busy day for such a young sprinter!
And here is how USATF reported this one:
BREAKING NEWS – record runs in men’s 100m quarterfinals
The men’s 100m quarterfinals on Saturday brought an American record, Olympic Trials record, Hayward Field record, American junior record, American high school record and a tie of the world junior record.
Tyson Gay’s 9.77 brokeMaurice Greene’s American record of 9.79 set in Athens in 1999, as well as Greene’s Olympic Trials record of 9.91 from 2004 and Shawn Crawford’s Hayward Field record of 9.88, set in 2004.
Crossing the finish after Gay was high schooler Jeff Demps of Okahumpka, Florida, who crushed two records and tied a third with his time of 10.01. It broke Walter Dix’s American junior record of 10.06 from 2005 as well as J-Mee Samuels’ national high school record of 10.08, also from 2005. He tied the world junior record of 10.01, held since 2003 by Darrel Brown of Trinidad & Tobago.
In the second heat, Travis Padgett of Clemson broke Ato Boldon’s collegiate record, running 9.89 to shave .01 off Boldon’s mark from 1996.
All told, seven men ran 9.99 or faster, all wind-legal.
