Panic Speed

Gay went back to work. His pride was stung by the New York trouncing. Together he and Drummond made several technical corrections, and Gay's 9.77 U.S. record (bettering Maurice Greene's 9.79 from 1999) in the second round was a thing of beauty. Had he not slowed slightly to save energy at the finish, he might have approached Bolt's record. (Of course after that race Gay watched a YouTube clip of Bolt's victory in the Jamaican trials 100 in a very easy 9.85. "He shut it down the last 20 meters," said Gay. "He definitely ran fast.")

In the final Gay was clearly the best, ahead of Walter Dix, the 2007 NCAA 100 and 200 champion at Florida State, and veteran Darvis (Doc) Patton. Almost three hours later Gay rose from a rubbing table in a tennis pavilion next to Hayward Field, the last athlete left on the grounds. The 200 lay ahead, next weekend, and a long summer beyond. Gay's shoulders and hips ached from his efforts. "But I'm happy," he said, and that made perfect sense. Because these are the Olympic trials, where pleasure walks in lockstep with pain.