BERLIN - The sprint duel between Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay will headline the World Athletics Championships in Germany in one of the most eagerly awaited events ever. Bolt took the Beijing Olympics by storm last summer. The towering Jamaican won the double gold sprint and also claimed gold as part of Jamaica's 4x100m relay team, all won in world record times.

BERLIN - The sprint duel between Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay will headline the World Athletics Championships in Germany in one of the most eagerly awaited events ever. Bolt took the Beijing Olympics by storm last summer. The towering Jamaican won the double gold sprint and also claimed gold as part of Jamaica's 4x100m relay team, all won in world record times.

He has continued his impressive form into this season, but the year's best marks in both the 100 and 200m races (9.77sec and 19.58sec respectively) have been set by arch-rival Gay, the American who endured a miserable Olympics after rushing back from a debilitating hamstring injury.

Gay is also the runner with the world credentials, having emulated Bolt's triple gold feat at the last world championships. His fitness problems have cast a cloud over his season but Gay said: "I've been trying to keep under the radar, trying to get through this situation I have."

"I feel like I haven't proved myself until I break the world record. That's what it's all about. Asafa Powell's done it before, but Usain Bolt right now is the man."

Bolt said: "Personally, no disrespect to Tyson, but that (breaking the 100m record) is going to be a hard task for him."

At the Osaka worlds in 2007, Gay spearheaded the US team to the top of the overall table. - Sapa-AFP