No longer exalted, track slouches toward China

But Tyson Gay, one of three sprinters expected to threaten the 100 world record in Beijing, notices that his sport has been nudged to the side.

“What can bring it back is a lot of guys like myself stepping out and talking about being drug-free and running fast times and showing everyone that you can do it natural,” said Gay, whose soft-spoken nature is quite a contrast to bombastic sprinters of the past. “I really think we can bring track back.”

It hardly helps, though, that Gay and some of the other athletes who are the closest things to household names in the United States won’t be getting full exposure in China.

He ran the 100 in a wind-aided 9.68 seconds at the trials June 29 — the best time ever recorded, under any conditions — but he crumpled with a hamstring injury in 200 qualifying six days later, so he won’t compete in the longer race at the Olympics. As it is, there are lingering questions about how fit he’ll be.

Felix, meanwhile, failed to make the U.S. team in the 100. Alan Webb, who gained national attention by breaking Jim Ryun’s 36-year-old U.S. high school mile record in 2001, finished fifth at 1,500 in Eugene, not good enough to make the American roster.

Eight-time U.S. javelin champion and national record holder Breaux Greer, as gregarious a personality as there is in any sport, was placed on the team after failing to qualify at the trials, but past Olympic gold medalists Dwight Phillips (long jump), Tim Mack (pole vault) or Allen Johnson (110-meter hurdles) won’t be in Beijing.

Plenty of highlights
All that said, there are plenty of highlights waiting to happen.

Start with the race to be the world’s fastest man. If the 100 meters plays out as expected, the final will include Gay and Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell — all of whom have run legal times of 9.77 seconds or lower. Powell held the world record of 9.74 until Bolt broke it with a breathtaking 9.72 in May.

“I still think the 100-meter dash is the most exciting event in the Olympics,” Gay said, “and a lot of fans do, too.”

There’s more to look forward to at the Bird’s Nest, the 91,000-capacity National Stadium, and no one will draw attention from the locals the way Liu will.

He is the reigning Olympic and world champion in the 110-meter hurdles, making him China’s best shot for a gold medal on the track. But his world record was snatched away by Cuba’s Dayron Robles in June, setting up a showdown — and only adding to the pressure.

“When you imagine 1.3 billion Chinese citizens watching Liu Xiang go to the start line to defend his Olympic title — there’s no question that the weight of his entire country’s expectations will be on his shoulders,” NBC’s Neal said. “That should just be an amazing, dramatic moment. I can’t wait for that.”

Other performers to watch include Jeremy Wariner, another Olympic and world champion, whose publicly stated goal is to break Michael Johnson’s record in the 400 meters. The subplots: Johnson is Wariner’s manager; Wariner recently split from coach Clyde Hart, who also worked with Johnson. And the catch: Wariner was beaten by LaShawn Merritt twice this year, including at the trials.

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