The cast list for the attempted rebirth of sprinting at the Olympic Games is down to a trio. In one corner is Tyson Gay, the fastest ever man in the United States and the 100 metres world champion on the back of receiving training schedules from his jailbird coach. In the other is the tag-team Jamaican combo of Usain Bolt, the new world record-holder, and Asafa Powell, the old one. “You can expect some real fireworks,” Powell said as he previewed the expected three-way battle in Beijing.

Bolt won his showdown with Powell at the Jamaican trials, but their impressive times of 9.85 and 9.97sec respectively were overshadowed by Gay's contribution in Oregon. The softly spoken sprinter ran 9.77 in his quarter-final at the US Olympic trials, breaking Maurice Greene's national record and sending a signal to the only two men to have run faster than him.

However, such is the cut-throat nature of the US trials that Gay was not assured of his place in the Olympic team going into the final in the early hours of this morning. He needed to finish in the first three to be assured of his place and, while that may have appeared a formality, Gay almost failed to make it to the quarter-finals.

In an attempt to conserve his energy, Gay pulled up 20 metres short of the line in his qualifying heat and was fourth. “After the first round I was scared,” he admitted. “I almost started crying as soon as I crossed the line because I thought I didn't make it.”

Gay is coached by Lance Brauman, who missed last year's World Championships because he was in jail for embezzlement, theft and mail fraud, and Jon Drummond, best known for lying down on the track after being disqualified at the 2003 World Championships. “My coach [Drummond] told me, - Champions don't do that - make it up in the next round,'” Gay said.

Allyson Felix, tipped to be a star of the Games, was only fourth in the 100 metres, but will still run in the 200 metres. Torri Edwards, who missed the Athens Olympics in 2004 because of a drugs ban, made the team, but in Jamaica, Veronica Campbell-Brown, the world 100metres champion, also failed to qualify.

Hopes of a Gay-Bolt pre-Olympic showdown were immediately quashed by Glen Mills, Bolt's coach. “He [Bolt] beat him already so he's nothing left to prove,” Mills said.

Powell added: “Three guys running 9.7 now - there are going to be some exciting times ahead.”