Gay falls out of the 200 in quarterfinals

. -- At this point, only two things are certain about the impact of Tyson Gay’s dramatic tumble to the track in Saturday’s quarterfinals of the 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials.

One is that Gay, the reigning 200-meter world champion, will not run that event next month in Beijing, because the U.S. selection system in track and field is unforgiving: Make the top three and make the Olympic qualifying standard or stay home.

The other is another athlete surely will benefit from Gay’s absence.

The injury that caused Gay to fall after 40 meters was not serious, according to his agent, Mark Wetmore, who described it as a left hamstring cramp being treated with ice and compression. It is too early to know if it could affect Gay’s participation in the Olympic 100 next month.

“Before I went on the track, I felt a little tightness in my hamstring, so I had kind of a bad feeling,” Gay said in a statement. “When I came off the curve, the first two steps felt fine, and then I felt it sort of pull. Once I was on the ground, it didn’t hurt as much as when it happened.”

The sight of Gay prone on the track was unnerving to women sprinters Allyson Felix and Lauryn Williams, who ran the 200 semifinals after Gay’s misfortune.

Each also had put her body through the strain of four rounds of the 100, as Gay had when he won that race last Sunday in 9.68 seconds, the fastest -- although wind-aided -- anyone ever has covered that distance.

“It’s scary,” Felix, the reigning women’s 200 world champion, said after qualifying for today’s final with the fastest time. “It kind of shakes up your nerves, but you can’t do anything about it. You have to take care of your body, but sometimes that’s not even enough.”

Williams said her coach, Amy Deem, advised her not to watch a replay of Gay’s race, but it was too late: Williams already was upset from seeing it.

“My eyes started to well up,” said Williams, who also made the final.

Wallace Spearmon, a leading contender for a 200 spot, expressed a mix of sympathy and pragmatism about the situation. “I think people are going to try to take advantage of the opportunity. You would be crazy not to,” Spearmon said.

Spearmon, the 2007 world bronze medalist, said Gay actually could consider himself fortunate.

“I don’t want to see him fall,” Spearmon said. “It happened to him in ‘04; it happened in “08. He is just lucky this time he already made the 100.”

Gay was only a promising college junior when he cramped in the 200 at the 2004 trials. This time, he figured to be the star of the U.S. track team in Beijing.

“It’s just one of those things,” Gay said.

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