Practically from the dawn of creation, the ability to run fast has been a measure of one's worth. From cave men hunting for food to modern athletes seeking gold medals, there is the need for speed.

After all, it's the human race.

Nobody -- anywhere -- was faster than Tyson Gay in 2007.

Thus, the Lafayette High School graduate and former University of Arkansas standout is the winner of the 27th annual Kentucky Sportsman of the Year award, presented by the Lexington Herald-Leader.

In a statewide poll of print and broadcast media, Gay was listed on 39 of 43 ballots, including 21 first-place votes. He scored 397 points to 278 for runner-up Andre Woodson, the quarterback who led Kentucky to a second consecutive Music City Bowl championship. UK Coach Rich Brooks was third with 253.

Track and field, often overlooked in a commonwealth rife with football, basketball and baseball stars, had never had a Kentucky Sportsman of the Year runner-up, let alone the winner.

As the World's Fastest Human, though, Gay was a slam dunk. He is a solid favorite to win sprint golds this August in the Beijing Olympics.

Already the fastest 100/200-meter combination runner of all time, he swept the U.S. Track and Field Championships.

His time in the 100, 9.84 seconds into a slight wind, knocked six-hundredths of a second off the meet record held by a pair of former world record-holders, Leroy Burrell and Maurice Greene. Gay's winning margin of .23 seconds is the greatest in the nationals since automatic timing was introduced in 1975.

Again running into a slight wind, on a rain-spattered track, Gay won the 200 in 19.62. That broke Michael Johnson's meet record of 19.66 and was the second-fastest of all time, behind only Johnson's 19.32 at the 1996 Olympic Games.

Nationals were just a warmup for what was to come in August at the World Championships, held in Osaka, Japan.

He blew past world record-holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica to take the 100 in 9.85, then broke the Championships record with a 19.76 victory in the 200. Gay also ran third leg -- his preference -- on Team USA's gold-medal 4-by-100 relay.

Overall, Gay won seven of eight finals in the 100 and was 4-for-4 in the 200.

Gay earned the Jesse Owens Award as U.S.A. Track and Field's top male athlete in 2007. The IAAF -- international governing body of the sport -- and Track and Field News magazine each picked Gay as the world's male Athlete of the Year.

Best in the U.S. Best in the world. Now, best in Kentucky.

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