Tyson Gay is USOC Men’s Athlete of Month

Lexington’s Tyson Gay is the U.S. Olympic Committee’s choice for Men’s June Athlete of the Month.

Hyleas Fountain, also from track and field, took top women’s honors, while the USA women’s wheelchair basketball squad captured the team award.

Gay, out of Lafayette High School and the University of Arkansas, won the U.S. Olympic Trials with the fastest 100-meter dash of all time under any conditions. His time of 9.68 seconds does not count as a world record because it was wind-aided, but the result gave Gay a berth on the U.S. Olympic team. Gay did get a record in the quarterfinals, with a calmer wind, racing to an American-record 9.77.

A strained left hamstring knocked him out of the 200-meter quarterfinals, but Gay expects to be ready to run the 100 and the 4-by-100 relay at the Beijing Olympics. Although the Games open Aug. 8, track and field competition won’t start until Aug. 15.

Fountain, a former University of Georgia standout from Dayton, Ohio, won the Olympic Trials heptathlon with a personal-best and world-leading 6,667 points. Within the multi-event competition, Fountain won the 100-meter hurdles (American-record 12.65), shot put (personal-best 44-10 1/4) and 200 meters (personal-best 23.1) on Day One, also placing second in the high jump (5-11 1/4). On Day Two, Fountain won the long jump (22-7) and javelin (158-0), placing 13th in the 800 (2:27.69).

The Women’s Wheelchair hoopsters won the Joseph F. Lyttle World Basketball Challenge at Warm Springs, Ga., as well as the North American Cup at Birmingham, Ala. The team went 6-0 at Georgia, defeating Japan, Mexico, Germany, Great Britian, Canada and, in the finals, Germany (56-50). At Birmingham, the Americans went 5-0 with victories over Germany, Canada and Australia, then Canada again in the semifinals and Germany in the finals (50-37). Stephanie Wheeler of Tuscaloosa, Ala., earned all-tournament honors and Jen Ruddell of Champaign, Ill, was named MVP. 

The roster also included Emily Hoskins, a Murray State student by way of Mascoutah, Ill.

The top three in each USOC Award category for June:

MEN — 1. Tyson Gay, track and field; David Boudia, diving; Vincent Hancock, shooting.

WOMEN — 1. Hyleas Fountain, track and field; Jennie Finch, softball; Laura Wilkinson, diving.

TEAMS — 1. USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team; (only team considered).