Gay chases medal dream to London

Tyson Gay saw his Olympic dream shattered in 2008 by a hamstring injury and now the former world champion comes to the London Olympics after needing nearly a year to recover from right hip surgery.

A confident Gay will test himself against Jamaican stars Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt and fellow American Justin Gatlin in the men's 100 meters, hoping to claim a medal in a final that comes four days before his 30th birthday.

"It's going to be tough," Gatlin said. "A lot of these guys are already sharp and running great times. I'm just going to go fight them.

"I feel real good about my chances. Stay healthy, that's the main thing right now." Gay won world 100m and 200m titles in 2007 and was a favorite for the 2008 Beijing Olympics before pulling a hamstring during the US Olympic trials, leading to a semi-final ouster at the Olympics.

Gay matched Bolt for the second-fastest 100 ever recorded to win at Shanghai in 9.86 seconds in 2009, the same year he finished second at Berlin in 9.71 to Bolt's world-record run of 9.58. In 2010, Gay delivered reigning Olympic champion Bolt's first defeat in two years on his way to capturing the Diamond League 100m crown.

But in 2011, Gay underwent hip surgery to solve several chronic problems. There were times during the recovery when Gay doubted he might ever run again at a world-class level.

"It was a slower process with me," Gay said. "I had a lot of doubts. I tried to tune them out. It was just everything I had to go through. AFP