Tyson Gay en route to his 9.92 Zagreb meeting record (© Zagreb meeting organisers)
With his 2010 season now behind him, Samsung Diamond League Ambassador Tyson Gay reflects on the year which saw him undefeated in the 100m with the fastest time in the world. All in all it was, the U.S. record holder says, a tremendous success.
?"I’m back home.
??"I’ve said it a bunch of times before ... After travelling from city to city and hotel to hotel for months, there is nothing like the feeling of being at home and being with family. I plan to take just a few small vacation trips here in the USA in the next month and then get back to work.
??"If you said to me on January 1st of this year that at the end of the season you would have the fastest time in the world at 100m, be undefeated at 100m, have an all-time world best at 200m on a straightaway and be part of the USA 4 x 1 relay with the fastest time of the year, I would have said, “I’ll take it.”
"Looking back, I am happy. Real happy. I am thankful I am healthy and that I enjoyed the successful season. I don’t want to sound greedy, but I am still looking and hoping for more in the future.
??"2011 and 2012 are going to be big years and everyone knows why. I am glad that the Diamond League launched in 2010. While all of the match-ups between Asafa, Usain and others didn’t happen as planned due to injuries, the fact that we did race each other at least once was good for all of us (at least that is what I think). ??
"Wanted to pass along some other thoughts...??
-- A big thank you to adidas for their continued support. They have stood by me through the good and bad times of my career and I am happy and thankful that they recently renewed their commitment to me in a way that guarantees that we’ll be together right up until my retirement (years from now, hopefully). ??
-- The Americas Team 4 x 100m at the Continental Cup was especially fun because we teamed up with athletes from other countries. Its not often we have All-Star Teams in our sport.
??-- I got the chance to meet Armin Hary from Germany at a promotional day in Omega’s booth before the Weltklasse meet. He was the first man to run 10 flat for 100. It was cool to hear about how his reaction time was so fast that he was called for a false when he ran his first 10 flat race. He actually had to re-run the race just a few minutes later. No way I could have done that. When we were together in Zurich we practiced starts a little to see what my reaction time was on Omega’s timing equipment. Speaking of timing and Omega, you gotta check out my new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean watch."??
Tyson