Gay Considers Competing in Daegu Track Meeting
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay could join a group of some of the world’s biggest names in track and field taking part in a competition next month in Daegu.
Organizers of the Daegu Athletics Meeting, which is scheduled for Oct. 3 at the southeastern city’s World Cup Stadium, are currently in talks with Gay’s representatives over the invitation fee and a deal could be reached as soon as next week.
Although the organizing committee remains optimistic over its chances of signing Gay, an official close to the negotiations told The Korea Times there is a possibility that he might price himself out of the Daegu track meet.
``He just won three gold medals in Osaka, so he definitely thinks he deserves a big pay raise,’’ the official said. ``There is a significant gap between his asking price and our initial offer, and we are trying to narrow the difference.’’
The Daegu Athletics Meeting will feature 200 athletes competing in 16 events, including about 50 who participated in last week’s World Championships in Osaka, Japan, officials said.
Selected to host the World Championships in 2011, Daegu officials are looking to develop their annual track and field contest into a high-profile event with the goal of being recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) as a Grand Prix meeting.
Aside from implementing standard equipment and facilities, the IAAF also demands Grand Prix events to have at least four of the world’s top 30 athletes by ranking to participate in at least eight events and four of the top 50 competing in the all of the remaining events.
Gay won the 100-meter, 200 and the 400-relay gold medals in Osaka. Although Daegu officials declined to comment on how big a paycheck Gay is asking for, it is thought to be somewhere near the $50,000 he accepted to compete in the Zurich Golden League Grand Prix that starts Friday in Switzerland.
Should Gay agree to compete next month in Daegu, he would be the biggest draw of the tournament, along with China’s Liu Xiang, an Olympic champion and winner of the gold in the 110 hurdles in Osaka, who already accepted the invitation.
Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, the current 100 record holder who grabbed the bronze in Osaka, turned down his invitation, officials said.
Wallace Spearmon, the second-leg runner in the successful U.S. 400-relay team in Osaka, and Nigeria’s Olusoji A. Fasuba, who finished fourth in the men’s 100 in the same meet, are also signed up for the Daegu contest.
Organizers are also in talks with Russia’s pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva.
Among South Korean athletes, 100 sprint prospect Lim Hee-nam, and Park Jae-myung, who won the gold medal in the men’s javelin in last year’s Asian Games in Doha, are the biggest names.