Gay has his way against Powell

OSAKA, Japan -- Tyson Gay grew up watching Maurice Greene, who always acted before a race like the bull no one dared get near. Greene would roll his shoulders, stomp from leg to leg, all but snort confidence until he settled into the blocks.

It was, in truth, Greene’s way of dealing with the emotions roiling his head and heart before he charged toward an Olympic gold medal and two world titles in the 100 meters, each punctuated by a tongue flapping out of his mouth.

Tyson Gay didn’t look anything like that in his final preparations for the World Track and Field Championships 100-meter final Sunday night.

Once Gay was sure he had won the world title, he shed a usually reserved demeanor and channeled Greene’s.

As he reached the finish, Gay was transformed.

“I don’t know what it feels like to be a world champion,” he said.

He showed the whole stadium. Five meters from the end, Gay began screaming for joy. His tongue wagged. He pumped a fist after crossing the line in 9.85 seconds, with Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas second in 9.91 and world-record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica third in 9.96.

“That was a little Maurice Greene coming out of me,” Gay said.

The similarities could grow in the next week. Gay, favored to win the 200 meters, could match Greene as the only man to take home world golds in the 100, 200 and 4x100-meter relay at worlds.

Running into a slight headwind, Gay had missed the world record by only .08.

“Tyson is mild, humble,” said his stepfather, Tim Lowe. “He usually doesn’t show a lot of emotion when he runs. He keeps a lot of stuff probably inside.”

Powell had seemed destined to win this race, just as he had at the 2004 Olympics, in which he finished fifth. At the 2005 worlds, when an injury kept Powell from running, he had dismissed Justin Gatlin’s victory by saying, “If I’m in the race, I know I would have won.”

Powell had no such braggadocio after once again failing to win a global title. He admitted to coming unstrung after feeling Gay on his shoulder 70 meters into the race.

“I tightened up. I panicked. I lost it,” Powell said.

He had led from the gun, although the margin always was small because Gay, a notoriously slow starter, got away well from the blocks. Gay dusted Powell as soon as he pulled even.

“When I saw him, I wasn’t sure he was going to go by,” Powell said. “That’s normally when I start to run -- stay relaxed, pick up the pace. But I didn’t.”

It was Gay who stayed relaxed, even if his face belied it. His mouth was a rictus of intensity, his eyes frozen wide open. He did not blink, either figuratively or literally.

Philip Hersh covers Olympic sports for The Times and the Chicago Tribune.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

World Track and Field Championships

Sunday’s big event: The heptathlon, in which Sweden’s Carolina Kluft won a third straight world title -- one more than Jackie Joyner-Kersee -- at only 24 years of age. Kluft, also the reigning Olympic champion, has won 19 heptathlons in a row. Despite staggering heat, Kluft scored a personal-best 7,032 points, a total beaten at worlds only by Joyner-Kersee (7,128 in 1987).

Today’s big event: Women’s 100-meter final. Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell is favored to take the title from defender Lauryn Williams. Campbell would give her coach, Lance Brauman, another reason to celebrate. Brauman also coaches men’s champion Tyson Gay.

Quote of the day: “To be able to come from a small country in Oceania and do something like this is awesome. It won’t change me. I’ll just be the same happy chappie, little Val.” -- New Zealand’s Valerie Vili, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound shotputter, on becoming her country’s second world-championship gold medalist.

TV schedule

Today-Friday -- Versus, 4 p.m.

Saturday -- Channel 4, 11 a.m.

Sept. 2 -- Channel 4, 10 a.m.

-- Philip Hersh