Athletics Shocker – Tyson Gay Beats Usain Bolt

USA’s Tyson Gay recorded his first victory in the 100m over world and three-time Olympic champion Jamican Usain Bolt at a Diamond League event in Stockholm.

In the sprint event held on Friday, Gay posted a modest time of 9.84 seconds with Bolt trailing by 9.97. After reasonable starts from the two riders, Gay was a meter ahead at the 20-meter mark and stayed ahead for the remainder of the race.

Bolt, recovering from a calf injury sustained in May, was clearly not at his best, in a race that featured a couple of false starts.

This was only the second professional defeat suffered by Bolt, who holds the 100m world record of 9.58 seconds which he set in August 2009 in Berlin.

But Tyson Gay admitted that Usain Bolt was not in his best physical shape. Bolt posted a fastest time of 9.82, earlier this year, in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The 1912 Olympic Stadium in Stockholm saw a sellout crowd anticipating the showdown between the two fastest men in history.

Bolt downplayed his loss modestly saying he wasn’t unbeatable.

The crowd was denied a rare 100m three power show on the same track when Asafa Powell missed the race after he withdrew from the event on Wednesday with a back injury.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bolt became the first man after Carl Lewis in 1984 to win the 100-meter and 200-meter sprint events.