Fence Sitter's Prohibited: Will Tyson Gay Beat Asafa Powell in the 100m at the World Championships in August?

by Sanchez, Shot To Nothing

'Fence Sitters Prohibited' is a feature to remedy all the non-committal crap you hear from announcers these days. The analysis may be horribly flawed and the answer ridiculous, but you'll always get a solid opinion one way or another. If you have a question you want answered then email us, remembering to put 'Fence Sitters Prohibited' in the subject. Thanks.

ANSWER: YES

ANALYSIS: Asafa Powell may well be the fastest human on earth; he holds the World Record for the 110m sprint (which he has broken twice) and he is unbeaten in this year in the 100m, but Asafa Powell has a problem. And it's a big one.

In the Olympics of 2004 Powell was considered to be the champion in waiting, but when the final came about and the sprinters were in their blocks you could see Powell sweating immensely and pacing nervously. In short, he looked like a man who would rather be anywhere else then at the start of that race. The truth is Asafa Powell can't handle pressure very well and he's even worse when it comes to media attention.

Powell lost that final and even missed out on a medal as well, finishing fifth overall. Even today Powell still looks nervous when running in front of large crowds or being interviewed by the media.

Tyson Gay has no such problem. He is the fastest man so far this year at 9.84 seconds and is hoping for a world record attempt next Friday in London. This may be typical sprinters' hype from Gay, but he has been tearing it up out there. His progression has been slower then Powell's and perhaps that's why he handles the pressure better.

Either way, he is a serious challenger to Powell's throne and when it comes down to that final I am sure that the pressure will once again be too much for him. And when that happens, the race is Gay's for the taking.