Even the casual track and field fan will remember the agonizing visual.
Tyson Gay, only a few strides into his 200m quarterfinal heat, tumbled awkwardly to the track, grabbing his left hamstring.
Grimacing in pain, he lay there for minutes under the watchful care of trainers and medics. Eventually, he was carted out of the facility on a stretcher.
It was the 2008 Olympic Trials at Eugene's Hayward Field. And as surely as Gay's entourage disappeared behind Hayward's fences and shrubbery, the hopes of an American sprint double-gold in Beijing vanished.
Days earlier, Gay had won the 100m final with a wind-assisted 9.68 and had established a new American record 9.77 (now 9.69) in an earlier round.
The hamstring injury did not heal before the Olympics, and Gay failed to make the 100m finals. Usain Bolt won both sprints virtually uncontested, setting world records in both the 100m (9.69) and 200m (19.30).
Bolt went on to lower his own incredible world marks to 9.58 and 19.19 respectively, and rule the planet as the world's most recognized athlete. Gay continued to valiantly fight through injury (and Bolt's intimidating shadow) to bear the less...
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