Tyson Gay won’t get his World Championships rematch with Usain Bolt, so newly-crowned US 100m champion Walter Dix said the rest of America’s sprinters will have to step up.
Gay, who arrived at the US athletics championships with the fastest 100m in the world this year and an ailing right hip, withdrew shortly before the semi-finals of the 100m.
“It was a big blow,” Dix said of Gay’s withdrawal. “Tyson at his best is one of the top runners in the world. We’re going to have to step up.”
In the final, Olympic bronze medallist Dix came from behind to edge Justin Gatlin, the former world and Olympic champion who earned a return to the World Championships after serving a four-year drugs ban.
Michael Rodgers, the 2009 national champion, was third.
While the injury left Gay’s prospects of regrouping to challenge Jamaica’s world record-holder Bolt at the 2012 London Olympics cloudy, Gatlin’s return to a World Championships team marked a re-emergence into the light.
“I think for the last four years, there was so much frustration, sadness,” Gatlin said. “Two metres before the finish line, I just let it all out with a roar... After I crossed the finish line, I just cried.”
Gatlin had surged to the early lead, Dix only getting past him at the end.
“I just let it rip,” said Dix, who won in 9.94sec to the 9.95 of Gatlin and 9.99 of Rodgers.
Dix said he wasn’t surprised to see the 29-year-old Gatlin return to world-class form.
“He has always had that kind of talent,” said Dix, adding that Gatlin displayed stellar results in his early career before any hint of doping. “His talent’s not questionable.”
Carmelita Jeter won the women’s 100m in a wind-aided (2.7m/sec) 10.74 seconds. Marshevet Myers was second in 10.83 and Miki Barber third in 10.96, booking their berths at worlds.
Gay wasn’t the only marquee name to fall prey to injury. Olympic champion Bryan Clay dropped out of the decathlon after spraining his calf when he fell in the 110m hurdles.
Rising star Ashton Eaton notched a dominant victory in the two-day, 10-discipline event, finishing with 8,729 points. It was the best mark in the world since 2009.
In Daegu, Eaton will join a US decathlon team that includes reigning world champion Trey Hardee, who has a bye and so opted not to tackle the entire decathlon at trials.
Ryan Harlan finished second with 8,011 points. That gives him the “B” standard of at least 8,000 points needed to qualify for worlds.
Since not all of the top three finishers hold the ‘A’ or ‘B’ standard, Clay can still petition for a place on the team.
Given the wealth of US sprinting talent, that’s not the case for Gay, although if he gets healthy he could receive a place in the US relay pool on the World Championships team.
But he won’t get a chance to avenge his runner-up finish to Bolt in the 100m at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.
Gay was world champion at both 100m and 200m in 2007, but has battled a string of injuries since.
In other finals on the track, Bernard Lagat won the men’s 5,000m in 13:23.06. Chris Solinsky was second in 13:23.65 and Galen Rupp was third in 13:25.52.
Molly Huddle won the women’s 5,000m in 15:10.01 ahead of Amy Hastings and Angela Bizzarri.
David Oliver stayed on course for a World Championships clash with China’s Liu Xiang as he led the way into the semi-finals of the 110m hurdles.