Tiffany did a fine job, because her little brother went on to become a three-time Class 3A 100m state champ out of Lafayette High School, with his 10.46 state-meet record as a senior in 2001 still standing. Tyson followed that up by becoming the first athlete in University of Arkansas history to win an NCAA 100m title.

Now, he is also a triple World Champion. At the 2007 World Championships, Gay became only the second man in history to win titles at 100 meters, 200 meters and the 4x100-meter relay. He is also the new American Record-holder at 100m, thanks to a 9.77-second victory in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Olympic Trials. As an encore, Tyson clocked a phenomenal 9.68 in the final – wind-aided, but nonetheless the fastest 100 meters ever run by a human being.

Since turning professional in June 2005, Tyson has quickly worked his way to the top of the sport: just weeks after ending his NCAA career, he made the USA 200-meter team for the World Championships, and at season’s end won his first World Athletics Final 200m title.

Gay counts the ability to bounce back from a bad race, instilled by his mother, as perhaps his biggest strength, but his ability to run a textbook curve in the 200 doesn’t hurt, either. In 2006, he put his stamp on the sport, notching four of the top six 200-meter times of the year and the second-fastest time (9.84) for 100m. This after calling the 100 an event he needed to learn at the end of the 2005 season.

Also in 2006, Tyson’s personal bests at 100 (9.84) and 200 (19.68) moved him past Namibian great Frank Fredericks (9.86 and 19.68) as the fastest 1-2 runner in history.

Tyson has something else in common with the great Namibian as well: a quiet, humble personality fostered by his mother, Daisy Lowe. "It makes me smile," Tyson told a Lexington newspaper reporter after the 2006 season. "Sometimes it's overwhelming, a little bit. Because I'm just a country boy from Lexington, Kentucky, who just runs for the love of track. But when I see guys like Michael Johnson and Frankie Fredericks and Maurice Greene, and I've run some of the same times they have, it's just shocking. I never really knew I could do that until now."

His 2007 season has been off the charts. Tyson opened at the adidas Track Classic with a victory in 9.79 seconds, which would have tied the American Record except for a tailwind just over the allowable limit. Two weeks later, at the Reebok Grand Prix, he proved that performance no fluke when he clocked a 9.76: just under the World Record, though once again with a slight tailwind. Thanks to those eye-popping wins, Tyson went into the US national championships as the favorite at 100 meters and he did not disappoint, running 9.84 into a headwind for the title. Two days later, he followed that up with a personal best 19.62 to take the 200-meter victory, making for the fastest double in history.

Then, on August 26 at the IAAF World Championships of Track & Field in Osaka, Japan, Tyson defeated his toughest rivals to become the 100-meter World Champion. "My friends and family know that I don't like to be the center of attention," he said, "but that victory lap is one I will never forget." He instantly became the favorite to win gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and followed up that performance with wins at 200 meters and in the 4x100-meter relay.

In the semi-finals of the 2008 US Olympic Trials in Oregon, Tyson broke the American Record for 100m, running 9.77 to shave 0.02sec off the mark that 2000 Olympic Champion Maurice Greene had set nine years earlier. After his American Record run in the quarterfinals, Tyson won the final of the 100m in a wind-assisted 9.68, at the time, the fastest 100m time ever recorded under any conditions. Despite his phenomenal 100m result, Tyson fell to the track with a hamstring injury in the second round of the 200m just days later. The injury kept Tyson out of training for several weeks. He was unable to regain his fitness by the time the Olympics began and did not qualify for the 100m final.

Determined to make up for his Olympic disappointment, Tyson began 2009 with a significant personal best over 400m, before running 19.58 to win the 200m at the Reebok Grand Prix, at the time, the third fastest mark ever recorded and still the fastest time ever run outside of an Olympic or World Championship final. Following a wind-aided 9.75 100m at the US Championships, Tyson won the 100m at the Golden Gala in Rome in 9.77 seconds, equaling his American Record. Despite a nagging groin injury that was hampering training, Tyson followed up his record run in Rome with wins in London and Stockholm, over 200m and 100m, respectively.

At the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Tyson cruised through his preliminary rounds, limiting the stress to his injured groin. He then crushed his own American record in the final with a mark of 9.71 finishing behind Usain Bolt and his new world record of 9.58 seconds. Tyson returned to the Grand Prix circuit after Berlin and secured an impressive win at the World Athletics Final. He surprised himself and the world one more time with a winning mark of 9.69 in Shanghai. This mark lowered his American record yet again and equaled the second fastest time ever recorded. Four weeks after the final race of his season, Tyson underwent surgery to repair his groin injury. The surgeon, Dr. William Meyers, was very pleased with how the procedure went and Tyson is expected to begin full training and preparation for the 2010 season this winter.

When he is not training in Orlando or Dallas, Tyson loves to spend time with his 7-year-old daughter, Trinity.