Gay Is Fastest Man, Ever*

*Except that track, unlike any other sport, factors in the weather, columnist writes
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 30, 2008 2:10 PM CDT
Gay Is Fastest Man, Ever*
Darvis Patton, Tyson Gay and Walter Dix race to the finish line.   (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Tyson Gay might have used the Olympic trials yesterday to cover 100 meters faster than any human in history, but he is not the world record-holder because track, unlike any other sport, attaches asterisks to records, Jim Caple writes on ESPN.com. Strong tailwinds propelled Gay to victory, but his breathtaking time of 9.68 seconds would have been 9.86 without the wind.

"Baseball officials don't say, Joe DiMaggio safely hit in 56 consecutive games, but it doesn't count because 20 of those games were against teams so bad they should have had Walter Matthau as a manager," writes Caple, who declares the run something special regardless of records. Gay, still a favorite for Olympic gold, was philosophical: “I am glad my body went that fast because I believe at some point I can do it." (More Tyson Gay stories.)

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