Tyson Gay

Walter Dix spoiled Tyson Gay's return. Dix won the 200 meters in the Prefontaine Classic at Eugene, Ore., on Saturday in 19.72 seconds, edging Gay by 0.04 of a second. Gay had not competed since May because of a hamstring injury. The Prefontaine, which did not include a men's 100, was a first step toward challenging Jamaican Usain Bolt's dominance in the sprints. Bolt, the world-record holder in the 100 and 200, did not compete at Saturday's meet, part of the elite IAAF Diamond League series.

LONDO  - If Usain Bolt was already a legend after completing his second consecutive Olympic sprint double during these London Games, what exalted status has he reached now after running an astonishingly fast anchor leg to help Jamaica set a world record and win the 400-meter relay? The final race on the Olympic Stadium track added to the legend that is Bolt. He was a blur Saturday as he took the baton from Yohan Blake and flew to the finish line, bringing it home in 36.84 seconds.

Tyson Gay gave notice to world-record holder Usain Bolt by running the fastest 100 meters of the year in 9.77 seconds at the Golden Gala on Friday in Rome. Gay swept past previous record-holder Asafa Powell 40 meters from the finish in a time that would have been good enough to equal the world record less than two years ago. Powell finished second in 9.88, and fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake was third with 9.96.

LONDON - It took a fraction more than 37 seconds to change so much for Darvis Patton. He knew two days earlier he'd run on the U.S. team's 400-meter relay but didn't consider it official until he hit the track Friday, so now he must update his Twitter profile to reflect his third Olympics. And then there was avoiding the acute agony of hearing a baton cling against the ground, a petite sound that proved so haunting. "To me, it's business as usual," Patton said. "I've just been on the unfortunate end of it a lot of times.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Tyson Gay's mother was hardly surprised to hear that her son had dinner in a restaurant. After all, Daisy Gay Lowe said, he eats nearly every meal outside the two-bedroom furnished apartment where he lives alone while training in this Dallas suburb. It was what Gay ordered in a Cajun-style restaurant that startled his mother. "He ate that?" she said, after hearing that the leading sprinter in the United States had tucked into a dish called Grilled Mahi Mahi St.

The idea for Tyson Gay was to run one and be done. As defending world champion in two events, the 100 and 200 meters, Gay needed only compete in one round of any event at the U.S. championships to claim his place in both sprints at the world championships at Berlin in August. Gay chose the 100 and ran Thursday's first round in a substantially wind-aided 9.75 seconds, fastest in the world this year under any conditions. But Gay was so upset about the way he ran that he wanted more.

LONDO  - If Usain Bolt was already a legend after completing his second consecutive Olympic sprint double during these London Games, what exalted status has he reached now after running an astonishingly fast anchor leg to help Jamaica set a world record and win the 400-meter relay? The final race on the Olympic Stadium track added to the legend that is Bolt. He was a blur Saturday as he took the baton from Yohan Blake and flew to the finish line, bringing it home in 36.84 seconds.

LONDON - Justin Gatlin of the U.S. recorded the fastest time in the semifinals of the men's 100-meter dash Sunday, enhancing the anticipation for the final that will be run in a few hours at the Olympic Stadium. Gatlin was timed in 9.82 seconds in a powerful and seemingly effortless first-heat performance that brought him home ahead of Churandy Martina of the Netherlands (9.91). In the second heat, Usain Bolt of Jamaica eased up and looked around but still cruised to the line in 9.87 seconds, ahead of American Ryan Bailey (9.96)

She was trying to stay focused on her 200-meter final, beginning only 10 minutes later, but Torri Edwards did not want to miss watching Tyson Gay run the same distance Sunday afternoon at the U.S. championships. What she and 7,407 spectators saw means everyone will be watching Gay closely between now and the 2008 Olympics. "That was phenomenal," Edwards said. Despite a slight headwind, Gay won in 19.62 seconds, the second-fastest 200 in history. Only Michael Johnson's world record of 19.

OSAKA, Japan -- Tyson Gay grew up watching Maurice Greene, who always acted before a race like the bull no one dared get near. Greene would roll his shoulders, stomp from leg to leg, all but snort confidence until he settled into the blocks. It was, in truth, Greene's way of dealing with the emotions roiling his head and heart before he charged toward an Olympic gold medal and two world titles in the 100 meters, each punctuated by a tongue flapping out of his mouth.

LONDON - It's always entertaining when Usain Bolt competes, and on Tuesday the Jamaican 100-meter gold medalist returned to the track to run the first heat of the 200 and put on a show for the crowd during the morning track-and-field session at Olympic Stadium. Bolt went through his usual pre-race poses and gestures and put in some effort before jogging to the finish line in time to win his heat in 20.39 seconds. The fastest qualifying time was posted by Alex Quinonez of Ecuador, a national-record 20.28.

Usain Bolt has never been shy about saying he wants to become a legend. Coming from almost any other athlete, that declaration might sound arrogant. Coming from Bolt, it's the mission statement for a happy journey he's sharing with the world, stride by stride and gold medal by gold medal. Bolt retained his status as the world's fastest man, overcoming an imperfect start Sunday to blaze away from perhaps the best 100-meter field ever assembled at an Olympic start line. With cameras flashing and a delicious tension lifting fans at Olympic Stadium to their feet, Bolt flew to the finish in an Olympic-record 9.63 seconds, .05 off his own world record.

LONDON - Usain Bolt of Jamaica is the world's fastest man. Again. With a huge crowd in the Olympic Stadium roaring and a worldwide audience watching, Bolt blazed through 100 meters in 9.63 seconds, setting an Olympic record as he won his second straight gold medal in the showcase event of the Games.  PHOTOS: London Olympics | Day 9 Putting to rest all the rumors that he was injured after he lost twice to teammate Yohan Blake...

LONDON - Justin Gatlin of the U.S. recorded the fastest time in the semifinals of the men's 100-meter dash Sunday, enhancing the anticipation for the final that will be run in a few hours at the Olympic Stadium. Gatlin was timed in 9.82 seconds in a powerful and seemingly effortless first-heat performance that brought him home ahead of Churandy Martina of the Netherlands (9.91). In the second heat, Usain Bolt of Jamaica eased up and looked around but still cruised to the line in 9.87 seconds, ahead of American Ryan Bailey (9.96)

LONDON -- The sound of thousands of voices singing "God Save the Queen" was a powerful note in a day of stirring achievements. The celebration was for the heptathlon triumph ofBritain'sJessica Ennis, but nearly every athlete who put foot or prosthetic leg on the field Saturday deserved a tribute. From the historic Olympic debut of double-amputee Oscar Pistorius to American Galen Rupp's exhilarating runner-up finish behind training partner Mo Farah in the men's 10,000 and ending with a convincing 100-meter victory by 2008 champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce that might start a flood of Jamaican wins, the competition was riveting.

LONDON - Oscar Pistorius of South Africa made history, LaShawn Merritt of the U.S. made an early exit, and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt made his first competitive appearance Saturday morning in track and field. Pistorius became the first double-amputee runner to compete in the Olympics when he lined up for a first-round heat in the men's 400 meters at Olympic Stadium, where the crowd saluted him with roars of encouragement. He was second in his heat in 45.46 seconds, a season-best time, and advanced to Sunday's semifinals.

LONDON - It's always entertaining when Usain Bolt competes, and on Tuesday the Jamaican 100-meter gold medalist returned to the track to run the first heat of the 200 and put on a show for the crowd during the morning track-and-field session at Olympic Stadium. Bolt went through his usual pre-race poses and gestures and put in some effort before jogging to the finish line in time to win his heat in 20.39 seconds. The fastest qualifying time was posted by Alex Quinonez of Ecuador, a national-record 20.28.

LONDON - Oscar Pistorius of South Africa made history, LaShawn Merritt of the U.S. made an early exit, and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt made his first competitive appearance Saturday morning in track and field. Pistorius became the first double-amputee runner to compete in the Olympics when he lined up for a first-round heat in the men's 400 meters at Olympic Stadium, where the crowd saluted him with roars of encouragement. He was second in his heat in 45.46 seconds, a season-best time, and advanced to Sunday's semifinals.

EUGENE, Ore. - Stunned after he was shot three times in the legs as he left a party near the USC campus, fearful that he might not walk again much less run at a world-class level, Bryshon Nellum's instinctive thought was to continue moving. "It's crazy because I never did fall to the ground. I kept going, just to run to safety," said Nellum, who was targeted by two gang members who mistook him for a rival in the early hours of Oct. 31, 2008. "I hopped and skipped on one leg to safety.

Walter Dix spoiled Tyson Gay's return. Dix won the 200 meters in the Prefontaine Classic at Eugene, Ore., on Saturday in 19.72 seconds, edging Gay by 0.04 of a second. Gay had not competed since May because of a hamstring injury. The Prefontaine, which did not include a men's 100, was a first step toward challenging Jamaican Usain Bolt's dominance in the sprints. Bolt, the world-record holder in the 100 and 200, did not compete at Saturday's meet, part of the elite IAAF Diamond League series.