Tyson Gay was born August 9, 1982.
The sprinter holds a national record with a personal best of 9.69 seconds in the 100-meter dash, and he is a two-time winner of the Jesse Owens Award as the nation's top track and field athlete.
After helping Arkansas to two NCAA Championships, Gay turned professional in 2005, and soon became one of the nation's top sprinters.
Gay broke the 10-second barrier in the 100-meter for the first time in 2006, but he truly broke out in the 2007 season, winning a trio of gold medals in that year's IAAF World Championships. Gay edged Jamaican star Asafa Powell with a 9.85 showing in the 100m, topped 21-year-old sensation Usain Bolt by going 19.76 in the 200m and also contributed to a winning 4x100 relay team, leading to his selection as the IAAF World Athlete of the Year for 2007 and his first time winning the Jesse Owens Award.
The 5-11 sprinter looked to improve further in 2008, as his 100m time of 9.68 seconds at the U.S. Olympic Trials would've been a new world record if it hadn't been wind-aided. However, Gay injured his hamstring in the 200m at the U.S. Trials and was forced to miss subsequent training before the Olympics. After missing the podium in both of his individual events and being part of a botched exchange in the 4x100 relay, Gay surprisingly finished without any medals in the 2008 Games.
Gay responded strongly in 2009, setting a new American record with a 100m time of 9.71 seconds while taking second place at the World Championships to Bolt (who set a still-standing world record of 9.58). In September, Despite a slow start out of the blocks, Gay went on to slightly better that mark by producing this 9.69 second race in Shanghai, as he won his second Jesse Owens Award for his efforts throughout the year:
After another solid year in 2010, including a victory over Bolt in a Stockholm meet, Gay underwent hip impingement surgery in 2011 in an attempt to prepare for the 2012 Games.
Gay chose to scratch from the 200m due to his injury history, but he unfortunately found himself in the fastest 100m race in world history in the 2012 Olympic final. Despite his fine time of 9.80 seconds, he again missed out on his first Olympic medal by an agonizing 0.01 seconds, finishing in fourth place behind Bolt (9.63), Yohan Blake (9.75) and Justin Gatlin (9.79). Gay did help the American 4x100 relay team to a silver medal and a national record time of 37.04 seconds, however, gaining his first medal there.
2013 saw Gay involved in controversy, as he tested positive for steroids in May. Gay denied any fault, telling U.S. News, "I basically put my trust in someone and was let down," but he was still suspended for a year, missing that year's World Championships and having his lone Olympic medal stripped.
Despite the suspension and his age, Gay has since returned near his peak form. He hit 9.87 seconds in a June 2015 100m race, and he is expected to compete in the 2015 World Championships this August.
Gay's personal best is currently second all-time behind Bolt in the 100m, and his 200m record of 19.58 seconds is the sixth-best ever. In addition, Gay is the only man in history to have broken 10 seconds in the 100m, 20 seconds in the 200m and 45 seconds in the 400m.
