Gay aims to run 100 meters at U.S. nationals: manager

By Gene Cherry
RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - World 100 and 200 meters champion Tyson Gay will only compete over the shorter distance at next week's U.S. championships and may run just one round, his manager said on Friday.
"He is committed to running one round in the 100," Mark Wetmore told Reuters in a telephone interview. "It is unlikely he will run more than one round but it is possible.
"If he felt (after a good first round) he wanted to run more we have not closed out that possibility."
The championships in Eugene, Oregon begin on Thursday with the first round of the 100 scheduled that day.
Like other world champions, Gay will receive an automatic berth to August's IAAF world championships in his specialities if he competes in any event at the U.S. nationals, the American trials for the meeting.
He will defend his world 100 and 200 titles in Berlin, Wetmore said.
The 100 in Eugene will be the American record holder's first of the season. He has raced twice at 400 and clocked a sizzling 19.58 seconds, the third fastest of all-time, in his only 200.
EUROPEAN PLANS
Gay's plans for July and early August are a work in progress, Wetmore said.
"He's really focused on running probably three races in Europe and he wants to run them at a very high level," his manager said. "He just wants to be at his best for Berlin."
Whether the schedule would include a race against Jamaican 100 and 200 world record holder and Olympic champion Usain Bolt ahead of the August 15-23 world championships "is too early to tell," Wetmore said.
Bolt has said he would like to race Gay over 200 prior to the championships.
The two did not meet in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Gay was injured in the 200 at the U.S. trials and did not compete in the event at the Games.
He did not advance to the final of the 100 which Bolt won in a world record 9.69 seconds.
"He certainly is not avoiding Usain and Usain is not avoiding him," Wetmore said. "It is just a question of whether their schedules match up. Continued...
Source: Reuters