Gay and Powell to meet at Pre?

According to a Reuters News article Prefontaine Classic meet director Tom Jordan is trying to get a Tyson Gay/ Asafa Powell head to head at the meet this coming weekend. Tyson's manager Mark Whetmore is quoted as saying that Tyson wants to run at Pre the only question being whether or not he feels like he is ready to run as the original plan was that his next competition was scheduled to be at the National Championships June 25.

While I would love to see a Tyson v Asafa matchup, not sure there is much to be gained right now. Asafa Powell has yet to show the signs of a sprinter ready to take on the best. A no show at a meet in Jamaica, followed by an aborted attempt at an anchor leg at Penn, then the 7th place debacle in New York points towards a possible annihilation at the hands of Gay who opened up at 19.58 in New York.

While the race would certainly provide a nice pay day for both, it could potentially send Powell's '09 season further in reverse. And a victory over Powell if he once again finishes out of the money doesn't really enhance Tyson's season unless he is able to put down a superb time on a track not known to yield such times.

More importantly, however, is the fact that to date the season's plan put together by Tyson, his coach, and his manager seems to be spot on - he's PR'ed in the 400 (45.57) and he's PR'ed in the 200 (19.58) so why mess with success? As much as I would love to see him run again, I can wait another couple of weeks if it means seeing another performance like the one he just threw down in New York.

We'll see how this develops over the next few days. Two years ago this was one of the mouth watering matchups in the sport. Today however, most are waiting with baited breath to see Tyson and Usain go toe to toe.