Tyson Gay Runs Down Asafa Powell at Gateshead

In a quality Men's 100m race featuring two of world's top three sprinters, American Tyson Gay came from behind to defeat his Jamaican rival Asafa Powell in a Diamond League meet held Saturday at Gateshead, United Kingdom.

Powell got off to an explosive start and led the entire field at 40 meters. By the 70 meter mark however, Gay began to unleash his trademark finishing speed, and slowly closed the gap on Powell.

In the last 5 meters, Gay finally caught his foe, winning in a time of 9.94 seconds despite a last-minute lean by Powell.

Considering that Gay was running his first 100m race of the season into a 1.7 m/s headwind, his winning time was quite impressive. Powell, in the midst of an otherwise excellent season thus far, finished in a respectable 9.96 seconds. No other sprinter ran a sub-10 time.

After the race Gay appeared to be favoring his tender hamstring, which last week he estimated to be at only 85 percent.

For Gay, the victory over another elite sprinter comes as a boost after last week suffering an upset in the 200m in his first race of the season.

Powell meanwhile, will have no time to reflect on this minor setback. He will be in Paris next week going head-to-head against phenom and world record-holder Usain Bolt.

Men's 200m

After upsetting Tyson Gay in the 200m last week and then racing in Lausanne only 2 days ago, a tired Walter Dix managed to battle through his fatigue and narrowly defeat fellow American Wallace Spearmon. Dix finished in 20.26 seconds, .03 seconds ahead of Spearmon, but significantly slower than several of his previous times this season.

Women's 100m Hurdles

Lolo Jones crushed an excellent field in the Women's 100m hurdles, cruising to an easy victory in 12.79 seconds. Danielle Carruthers of the U.S. finished a distant second in 12.98 seconds.

Women's 100m

American Carmelita Jeter won the Women's 100m with a solid time of 10.95 seconds. No other woman posted a sub-11 time in the final.

Trinidad and Tobago's Kelly-Ann Baptiste placed second in a time of 11.00 seconds. Baptiste set a meet-record time of 10.93 seconds in an earlier heat.

By Mike Elliott
Staff Editor for TheDailySportsHerald.com