SPRINTER GAY ADDED TO U.S. OLYMPIC TRACK TEAM
Consider this a second chance for
Tyson Gay. Maybe his last one, too. The 33-year-old sprinter was handed a spot on the U.S. Olympic track team as a relay runner Monday, more than two years after his doping positive cost the Americans a silver medal from the 2012 Games. Gay dominated the sprints for a time before
Usain Bolt burst onto the scene in 2008. The American is still ranked second all time behind Bolt with a time of 9.69 seconds in the 100 meters. But the last several years have been a struggle, filled with injuries and setbacks — none bigger than a positive doping test in 2013 that cost him one year out of the sport and forced the relay team to surrender its medal. Gay finished fifth in the 100 and sixth in the 200 at the recently completed U.S. Olympic trials, but coaches stuck to the order of finish for the 100, taking Gay and sixth-place finisher Christian Coleman, along with Mike Rodgers, whose spot was locked in thanks to his fourth-place finish. In Gay, the USA gets a two-time Olympian and 2007 world champion at 100 and 200 meters — choosing him over high-schoolers Noah
Lyles and Michael Norman, who finished 4-5 in the 200 at trials. Asked what it would mean to make the team, Gay said: “A hell of a lot. I’m considered the old one of the bunch now. It defi- nitely means a lot to me to still keep up with these young guys.” Also added for relays on the 127person team, which includes 84 first-time Olympians, were Arman Hall, Tony McQuay and Kyle Clemons (men’s 4x400), Ariana Washington (women’s 4x100) and Francena McCorory and Courtney Okolo (women’s 4x400).