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Week In Pictures
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Saturday
Highlights: men's 20 km walk, high jump and 3,000 steeplechase finals, 200 quarterfinals and semifinals; women's hammer throw and shot put finals, 200 quarterfinals and semifinals
TV: NBC-18 (5-6 p.m.)
EUGENE, Ore. — Tyson Gay celebrated Independence Day with just another day at the office.
His office being Hayward Field, home of the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.
Gay breezed through the first round of the 200-meter dash, winning his heat in 20.43 seconds. The wind was negligible.
For University of Louisville senior-to-be Andre Black, things didn't go as well. He finished 17th in the triple jump, five spots shy of qualifying for Sunday's finals.
Gay blasted the curve, had the race in hand and coasted down the straightaway. Halfway down the straightaway he backed off. Unlike his first-round scare in the 100, there was no catching him this time.
He glanced over his shoulder several times just to make sure there were no surprises.
”I just used that first run to get rid of the cobwebs,“ said Gay, who already won the trials 100, setting an American record (9.77) in the quarterfinals and a wind-aided but fastest-under-any-conditions 9.68 in the finals. ”It felt pretty good and relaxing. And that's about the time I wanted to run.“
After the 100, there was some concern that Gay's legs might be sore for the 200. No problem, though.
”My (right) hip's a little sore, but that's about it,“ he said. ”Four days (off) was enough. Plenty of time.“
Gay's time stood second overall. Shawn Crawford, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist, led the pack in 20.18.
Quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled Saturday. Finals of the 200 will be Sunday.
Gay, out of Lafayette High School and the University of Arkansas, is the reigning world champion at 100 and 200 meters. He also ran on Team USA's gold-medal 4-by-100 relay team.
Walter Davis led the triple-jump qualifiers, bounding 55 feet, 3 inches.
U of L's Black, the 2007 NCAA indoor champion from Mobile, Ala., checked in at 51-11.
”I'm disappointed with my results, I'm happy with my efforts and I thank God that I'm here to enjoy this experience, just to be here to compete and represent the University of Louisville,“ Black said. ”Anytime you get to compete with the Walter Davises and the Kenta Bells and the Aarik Wilsons, it steps up your jumping ability because you get that experience.“
Friday's biggest name to get knocked out in qualifying was Breaux Greer, holder of the American, Olympic trials and Hayward Field javelin records. He intentionally fouled his first two attempts. Then, he hit only 220-6 on his third throw. That left him in 17th place and out of the finals.
Barry Krammes had the top throw, 259-1. Greer, whose American record is 299-6, needed to surpass 230-7 in order to advance to the finals.
Coming off surgery on Dec. 31, Greer said he came in knowing that he had only one good throw in him. His opener was wasted when he caught his foot on the runway.
”It was just a rotator-cuff surgery, but anyone that know shoulders knows it takes two years to come back from, not six months,“ Greer said. ”So I'm very grateful that this happened and I can actually heal up. Because I have no doubt next year I'll be 100 percent. It's gonna be easy.“
Greer, also known as Hurricane on the American Gladiators, resumes TV filming in November.
