Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt's showdown Saturday will for a moment drag the athletics spotlight out of the courtrooms and back onto the track.
American World Champion Gay and Jamaican Bolt would face each other over 100 meters at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, the same city where defending Olympic 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin was before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, trying to get a doping ban reduced.
Across the United States in San Francisco, former track coach to the stars Trevor Graham was found guilty Thursday of lying to investigators about his relationship to a steroid dealer.
Gay and Bolt have much to prove personally Saturday _ Gay trying to rebound from a less-than-satisfying time (10.05 seconds) two weeks ago and Bolt trying to show that his 9.76 last month, the second-fastest time ever, wasn't a one-time deal.
But as the Gatlin and Graham hearings showed, there were also questions to answer about their sport.
"I definitely understand that people have questions," Gay said Thursday. "People are going to question us because we've had athletes busted in the past. But I can't worry about it much. I know what I do. I know how I train every day, how I eat, sleep and run. I can't help what people talk about. People will have suspicions about track and field probably as long as track and field is going on."
Gay is among the dozen American athletes who signed up for a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency pilot program that performs baseline testing of an athlete's body chemistry, then compares it with subsequent readings.
It's laborious. Gay had to give six vials of blood back in March to establish the baseline. Since then, he's been tested twice, including once with no notice. He said he didn't hesitate when asked to join the program.
"They said, instead of seeing people on the news and TV for bad things, you could be on the news for something positive," Gay said. "When they put it like that, it was all I needed to hear."
Gay's prime concern, however, is getting ready for Olympic trials, which are expected to lead to his first trip to the Olympics come August. What better test than a matchup against Bolt, the Jamaican who specialized in the 200 and 400, but added the 100 to his repertoire, mainly because he wanted to get out of running the more grueling 400.
"Right now, the 200 is my favorite race," Bolt said. "I've been working for years trying to perfect that race."
He's not quite sure which other race he'll focus on _ the 100 or 400 _ for Beijing, though Saturday could be a big step toward making the decision.
At 6-foot-4, Bolt was considered too tall to show top speed in the shortest sprint. His time of 9.76 in Kingston last month _ second fastest ever, behind countryman Asafa Powell _ surprised a lot of people.
"Once it sets in a little, you say, '9.76? Is that the world record?' It's close," Gay said.
Gay said he wouldn't be surprised to see the record inch downward over the next few months, especially if Powell gets back in the mix. Powell, whose 9.74 is the standard, is working his way back into shape from a chest injury and should be healthy for Jamaican national championships in June.
"There's no telling what could happen," Gay said. "Who knows? We could all run 10 seconds, we could be so nervous. But if you get us three guys in there, not counting anyone else out, the world record could go lower than that."
Actually, it could be four guys if Gatlin pulls an upset and wins his CAS case, which will be decided June 6, three weeks before the start of Olympic trials.
Not that Gatlin's possible return has been on Gay's mind.
"I don't know what he's been doing," Gay said. "I don't know if he's at home doing his sit-ups and working hard. I thought he was doing football. But with the work we've been doing this season, it'd be hard for him to come back and be competitive. I don't really see that."
