Tyson Gay Turns on the Turbos in Gateshead, Allen Johnson to retire, by USATF, note by Larry Eder

Tyson Gay, en route to his 9.94 victory over Asafa Powell, photo by PhotoRun.net.

In the excitement over Tyson Gay’s run in Gateshead, we did not comment on
Allen Johnson,the 1996 Olympic champion, announcing his retirement. We will
follow up with a column on Allen this week, but the best way to pay tribute to the
man who raced until this season, at the age of 39, is to use his worlds, taken
from the BBC: ” “It’s just come to
the point where my body can’t take it anymore,” said Johnson.”Maybe I
can coach some hurdlers or some sprinters… give something back. I’m
going to miss it, I really am, but it was fun.”

The RunBlogrun Interview: Asafa Powell, Working on the Little Imperfections, (from the Archives, January 6, 2008)

Ferdinand Omanyala, 2022 Commonwealth Games Champion, 2022 African Athletics Champion, the audio interview

The Most Excellent Adventures of Des Linden

Allen Johnson, at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, photo by PhotoRun.net.

Updated July 13, 2010

Gay blasts by Powell & Allen Johnson announces retirement at Gateshead

INDIANAPOLIS
– In his first 100m competition of the year, American record holder
Tyson Gay used an impressive finishing burst in passing former world
record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica in winning the men’s 100m
Saturday at the Aviva British Grand Prix in Gateshead, England.

The
British Grand Prix is a member of the prestigious new IAAF Samsung
Diamond League series consisting of 14 of the greatest invitational
track meets in the world. For more information visit: www.diamondleague.com

Gay
trailed Powell for most of the race before passing him with 20 meters
to go. In the first battle this season between two of the ‘big three’
of men’s sprinting (Gay, Powell and Usain Bolt) Gay put an end to
Powell’s unbeaten season by crossing the finish line first in 9.94
seconds.

Competitors
in the 100m dealt with a +1.7 meters per second headwind. “I felt
good,” Gay told the IAAF. “Asafa’s one of my favorite competitors and I
managed to get him today. I really had to stretch to the finish line
and he didn’t see me coming. The wind maybe affected the time slightly,
but not much.”

Powell was the runner-up in 9.96, with Daniel Bailey (ANT) third in 10.15 and Trell Kimmons fourth in 10.18.

In other
events, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist and 2010 USA Outdoor Championships
runner-up Walter Dix won the men’s 200 meters with his time of 20.26
seconds. Dix, who posted the second-fastest time in the world this year
of 19.72 from his win last Saturday at the Nike Prefontaine Classic and
won earlier this week in Lausanne, finished just ahead of two-time
World Outdoor Championships bronze medalist and reigning national
champion Wallace Spearmon, who was the runner-up in 20.29. Jaysuma
Saidy Ndure (NOR) was third in 20.31 and Angelo Taylor was fourth in
20.50.

U.S.
women’s sprinters also were successful in Gateshead with 2009 national
100m champion and two-time World Outdoor Championships bronze medalist
Carmelita Jeter winning her specialty in 10.95 seconds. Kelly-Ann
Baptiste of Trinidad was the runner-up in 11.00, with Sherone Simpson
of Jamaica third in 11.02.

2007
USA Junior champion and Pan Am Junior gold medalist Bianca Knight was
victorious in the women’s 200m in 22.71. Rosemarie Whyte of Jamaica was
the runner-up in 22.81, with Anneisha McLaughlin (JAM) finishing third
in 22.95.

2007 USA and NCAA
Outdoor champion Alysia Johnson posted an impressive win in the women’s
800 meters by crossing the finish line first in 1:59.84. Finishing
second was Halima Hachlaf (MAR) in 2:00.49, with Yuliya Krevsun (UKR)
third in 2:00.67. 2008 Olympian and 2009 World Outdoor Championships
fifth-place finisher Christin Wurth-Thomas finished fourth in 2:00.75.

Also posting a
win today was two-time World Indoor champion and two-time Indoor Visa
Champion Lolo Jones, who won the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.79 seconds.
Jones, who is the 2010 USA Outdoor champion and posted the fastest-time
in the world this year of 12.55 on June 12 in New York, finished ahead
of runner-up Danielle Carruthers (12.98) and Canadian standout Perdita
Felicien, who was third in 13.01.

U.S. women
turning in runner-up performances in Gateshead included reigning
national 400m champion, 2009 World Outdoor Championships sixth-place
finisher and current world 400m leader Debbie Dunn (50.66), and 2004
Olympic Trials fourth-place finisher Morgan Uceny (4:04.26), who posted
the fastest 1,500m time by an American this outdoor season earlier this
week in Lausanne when she finished fifth in 4:02.40, which is her
career best. 2008 Olympian and Olympic Trials record holder Kara
Patterson, who set the American record in the women’s javelin in
winning at the 2010 USA Outdoor Championships, finished as the
runner-up today with her best throw of 63.11m/207-0.

Another impressive
performance was turned in by 2010 USA Outdoor Championships runner-up
Leonel Manzano, who posted the fastest time by an American this outdoor
season with his 1,500m second-place finish in 3:33.51. His performance
bettered the previous U.S. leading mark of 3:33.92 that he posted when
he finished third in New York on June 12.

Also
turning in a strong performance was Ben Bruce, who was the runner-up in
the men’s 3,000m steeplechase at the 2010 USA Outdoor Championships in
Des Moines. Bruce finished third today in 8:22.88, which is his personal best time and the second-fastest time by an American this year.

All-time hurdles great Allen Johnson retires at Gateshead

According
to a report by the BBC, 1996 Olympic gold medalist, four-time World
Outdoor champion and all-time 110m hurdles great Allen Johnson
announced his retirement today in Gateshead at the age of 39.

“It’s just come to
the point where my body can’t take it anymore,” said Johnson.”Maybe I
can coach some hurdlers or some sprinters… give something back. I’m
going to miss it, I really am, but it was fun.”

Johnson was slated to compete at an event in Glasgow on Wednesday, but pulled up during the warm-up period.

For more information on the 2010 British Grand Prix in Gateshead, including the complete results, visit: www.iaaf.org.

About USA Track & Field

USA
Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and
field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States.
USATF encompasses the world’s oldest organized sports, some of the
most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and
junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult
runners in the United States.

For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org

Author

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

View all posts