American Record: Michael Johnson, 19.32
2007 U.S. Champion: Tyson Gay, 19.62
2004 Olympic Trials Champion: Shawn Crawford, 19.99
Top 5 Seed Times
1.) Tyson Gay, 19.62
2.) Walter Dix, 19.69
3.) Shawn Crawford, 19.79
4.) Wallace Spearmon, 19.82
5.) Xavier Carter, 19.92
It seems everyone knows whom the favorite is in this event. Coming off his electric performance in the 100m, Tyson Gay is ready to defend his U.S. outdoor title from a year ago in this event. The times of the top five competitors are all from the 2007 season, but that doesn’t mean they’ve slowed down much. Gay, Wallace Spearmon, LaShawn Merritt and Walter Dix hold four of the world’s top five times this season. Gay will have to fend off another loaded field, seeing that 11 of the 19 times in the world this season have been run by Americans.
One is a collegiate teammate at Arkansas, Spearmon, who ran 20.07 at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York City on May 31. Spearmon set his personal best of 19.82 last year, but that was amazingly only the fifth-best time in the U.S.
The second seed, Dix, is looking for his second Olympic team bid. He is the collegiate record-holder along with a 100m Olympic team member. After an injury-ridden 2008 season at Florida State, he still rebounded to win the NCAA title in the 200m this year. Whether he can regain his top form from last year remains to be seen.
Crawford was a 2004 Olympic gold medalist but has barely run in any meets this season. He was second in the 200m at the Prefontaine Classic on June 8.