Sprinter Gay gives world-class seminar at Centre

He’s humble and soft spoken, but Tyson Gay doesn’t need long to make it perfectly clear that he wants to win the 100-meter dash gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.“I want to. That is the goal and one thing on my mind more than anything. I want to win. I¿am a real competitor, and I can’t tell you how bad I want that gold in London,” said Gay.He was here Monday for the Maximum Velocity Track and Field Academy at Centre College during a brief break in his training schedule leading up to the World Championships in August.Gay, a Lexington native, ran the fastest 100-meter time in the world this year on Saturday at the Star Athletics Last Chance meet in Clermont, Fla., to win in 9.79 seconds. That same day, Jamaican Steve Mullings ran a 9.80 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore.“That was at the track where I train and was a comfortable environment with my training partners to get some fitness in,” Gay said.Earlier this season, Gay won a 150-meter race in Manchester, England. He finished in 14.51 seconds, despite running in a steady rain, and covered the last 100 meters in 8.88 seconds. Usain Bolt, the 2008 Olympic champion, ran the same race in 14.35 in 2009.“When I ran the 150, it was almost like I was trying to test myself and see where I was at in that type of distance,” Gay, who plans to run again Saturday in New York, said. “Overall, things are not going bad at all. I have a couple of little nibbles here and there with my body, but nothing big at all. It’s a long season, and I¿just want to stay healthy.“We have basically an idea of where I¿will compete this year. I knew Manchester was on the list for the 150, but again I was supposed to run Jamaica and I wasn’t able to. I was supposed to run another meet but couldn’t because my body was not right. We change the schedule depending on my body.”Gay was favored to win the 100 gold medal and maybe even the 200 at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He ran an American record 9.77 in the U.S. Olympic Trials quarterfinals and won the final in a wind-aided 9.68, the fastest 100 time ever recorded under any conditions at that time. However, in the 200 qualifying, he suffered a hamstring injury that impacted his training, and he did not qualify for the 100-meter final in Beijing, a constant motivator for the 2012 Olympics for him.He became a dominant world runner again in 2009. He ran a 19.58 to win the 200-meter dash at the Reebok Grand Prix, then the third fastest time ever. He won races impressively in Rome, London and Stockholm despite battling a groin injury. In the World Championships in Berlin, he ran a 9.71 in the 100 final to crush his own American record, yet finished .13 seconds behind Bolt. Later, he ran a 9.69 in Shanghai before undergoing surgery for his groin injury.He started 2010 with a personal best 44.89 clocking in the 400 run that made him the first sprinter to run the 100 under 10 seconds, 200 under 20 seconds and 400 under 45 seconds. He broke Tommie Smith’s 44-year-old world record in the 200 with a 19.41 finish in Manchester. His first matchup with Bolt came in Stockholm when he ran 9.84 to beat Bolt’s 9.97 in the 100 — Bolt’s first defeat since July, 2008.Gay, who ran collegiately at Arkansas, says adversity has helped him become a better runner.“Those years that your body breaks down or you get injured, you can’t get those years back. It’s tough when you go to a championship and you can’t bring home any hardware. That’s tough,” Gay, the 2007 United States Olympic Committee Sportsman of the Year, said. “I truly believe that through all my injuries and things like that, that is the reason I am the person I¿am today. I think those tough times and trials have made me a stronger person and runner.“I have had success, too, but that comes from hard work.¿I think as hard as I work, I¿have to have some success even though I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career.”His races have little, or no, margin for error. He says a slight stumble or bobble means the difference between first and fourth place.“It is very tough, especially when you go back and watch your race and know you did things that you could have fixed and run a lot faster. In any event with a short distance, you have to make the least mistakes to run the fastest time,” Gay said.He’s 28 now and says the travel does wear and tear on his body, but he’s in no rush to quit running.“I will be 29 in August next year during the Olympics. That will be one of my big moments, I think. After that, I want to run for maybe another good four years, maybe to the next Olympics (in 2016),” he said. “I am really looking forward to the Olympics. I know what to expect now from being in Beijing. I know how it will be, and that will help a lot.”He knows the flamboyant Bolt is focusing on the 2012 Olympics as well and will be considered the one to beat in both the 100 and 200 this time.“I don’t really need the limelight or camera time. I just like to do what I¿have to do when the camera does come. There is time for that, but I¿don’t have to have that attention to motivate me,” Gay said. “I¿just want that gold medal.”He also wanted to make sure he came to this camp, something he could not do when former Olympians Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Sharieffa Barksdale had a camp in Harrodsburg last year. However, he did pay for five scholarships to the camp.“I really don’t get that much attention, but any time I¿get any kind of hometown support I really appreciate it,” Gay said. “This is one of the first things I’ve ever got to do where I could come back home and talk to kids and help some kids out. With my schedule, I am doing my season when the kids have camps and free time. The kids are already back in school when I¿get time off. So, any chance I have to help or support my hometown, I consider it an honor to get to do it.“I sponsored five kids last year to give back and show I was serious about supporting track. Anytime I can help kids, I want to do it. I believe this is one of the easiest sports where a kid can go and get a scholarship and do great things. But a lot of people don’t look at track because you don’t get all the glory and highlights like football and basketball. They don’t see that upside. I see it as a great opportunity to be successful.”He spoke to about 150 camp participants along with other Olympians and Centre College track members helping at the camp and then worked individually with runners Tuesday.“I didn’t want to just ramble a lot. I wanted them to feel free to ask me questions so I could answer what they wanted to know,” Gay said. “I showed them some technical things, too, about running with better technique. I just wanted in some small way to help everyone that I¿could, because with all this sport has done for me, I want to help do something to maybe help inspire the next Olympian from my home state.”