Tyson Gay was the star of the press conference two days before the 2010 IAAF Zagreb World Challenge, which will take place at the Mladost Sports Park on 1 September.[:]
Before he shared his thoughts with the Croatian public before one of this season’s fastest races in the 100m, the US record holder received a special gift from the Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandic:
„As a little token of appreciation, we present to you this gold coin with the likeness of the Madonna of the Stone Gate, a symbol of Zagreb. Let it remind you that you were in a city that loves athletics. We would also like to give you an umbrella with a typical traditional motif of the region. I am looking forward to world’s top results in the race featuring Gay and Carter. Blanka Vlasic will fly over 2 metres again and let’s hope that Sandra Perkovic performs at the level of her personal best, or maybe throws even further than those 66.93 metres.
The Vice-President of the Croatian Athletics Federation presented Mayor Bandic with a plaque on behalf of the Organizing Committee.
„I hope it will remind you of the best Meeting ever held in the City of Zagreb. Thank you, because we wouldn’t have been able to organize such a meeting without your help.“
Tyson Gay first thanked the sports public for following him closely from the moment he arrived in Zagreb.
„Thank you for coming here and supporting me. I feel well and I am looking forward to running a good race against Nesta Carter in hopefully good conditions. I expect it to be one of the most exciting races of the season, because the two of us will do what was expected of Bolt, Powell and me during the season.
Journalists reminded him that he announced he would go for a new personal best in Zagreb.
„I think it’s very possible that I will run under 9.69 seconds if the conditions will be good. It will be a very competitive and very fast race.“
He offered an explanation for his excellent results this year, including his victory against Bolt.
„There has been no pressure this season, I have been relaxed. I have taken care of my body, behaved smart and worked on my start a lot. I definitely want to be ready for the World Championships next year. If I keep working on my start and stay consistent, maybe I can take Bolt’s title.“
The greatest international star has many nice words for Croatian athletes.
„I know both Blanka and Sandra. Blanka and I had a photo shoot in the USA together and I met her personally. We were telling jokes, she is cool.“
In these past days, the world of athletics was shaken by David Rudisha, who broke the 13-year old world record in the 800m twice in a short period of time.
„It’s a great thing as nobody expected that record to be broken so fast. These are special moments when history is made. They are also additional motivation for me to go down in history in such a way myself one day.