Gay targets 100m world record at US meet

American sprinter Tyson Gay has said he could break the 100 metres world record at the US championships if conditions are favourable.

"If the weather is nice, nice enough to give me maybe a 1.5 (metres per second tailwind), I think it is very possible I can break the world record," Gay said at a news conference.

"You try not to think about it," the 24-year-old added, "but I think it is a possibility because I have been practising good, running some fast times in practice and I am healthy."

The championships, which serve as the American trials for August's world championships in Osaka, Japan, began last night. The 100 metres finals are scheduled for tomorrow morning.

"I believe I can run 9.73 (seconds) or faster," said Gay, who also hopes to make the US team in the 200 later this week.

That would be faster than Jamaican Asafa Powell's 100 world record of 9.77 seconds, a mark Gay exceeded earlier this year although he was denied the record because of an assisting wind.

Gay clocked 9.76 seconds at New York on June 2 but the wind was slightly above the allowable 2.0 for record purposes. He has also run a wind-assisted 9.79 seconds.

"The two 9.7s have to be because I have been working extremely hard on my start," said Gay, who works with former elite sprinter Jon Drummond, an excellent starter, on that phase of his race.

"A lot of it had to do with confidence and learning how to perfect the drive phase, which is the first 30 to 40 metres of my race," added Gay, whose personal best in the 100 is 9.84.

"I used to just listen for the gun and then go so my reaction time wasn't too well. Now I am starting to anticipate the gun."

"I would not be surprised if he (Gay) ran 9.6, not at all," Drummond told Reuters. "If anyone is going to do it, he has the potential."