The second-fastest man in history, Tyson Gay, is not contented with his American record of 9.69, which he set on the Grand Prix circuit in Shanghai last year.

Gay has his sight set on the world-record mark of 9.58, which is held by Jamaica's Usain Bolt, who clocked the time to beat him into second at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin last summer.

"Having the American record is a beautiful thing in America but it doesn't ring a bell as well as having the world record," Gay said. "Usain Bolt has set the bar at a standard where it is going to be tough to reach, but I am glad he has done that because it is going to allow me to work harder and continue to strive for that record.

Gay, in the island for fellow sprinter Asafa Powell's charity event - 'A Night on the Tracks' - which was held yesterday at the National Indoors Sports Centre, believes Bolt being the "monster", he can go faster.

"I think with the right condition, he is capable of running low 9.5, 9.4s even because I think it is about conditions. He is a monster - he can run in any condition; rain, snow, anything but at the same time. I think under the rightconditions, he can go faster."

He further believes Bolt's times might scare a lot of athletes, but if he (Gay) stays healthy and mentally strong, he can get the better of him.

"He can probably raise the bar even more himself. He is so talented, he is young and he is exciting. It is going to take a time of 9.7 seconds or faster to beat him," Gay said.

"I think I just have to stay healthy and stay strong mentally because I believe 9.58 on the screen can really scare a lot of people, scare a lot of athletes as well because if their PR (personal record) is 10.0 or 9.9 and they see that (9.7) they are like, wow! But for a guy like me, it just makes me work harder," he added.

Gay, who had groin surgery eight weeks ago, has set himself other goals for this season, given that there are no major championships to be contested.

"I definitely want to PR and I definitely want to race Usain Bolt at least once in the 200 (metres) because the world hasn't seen that since 2007 when we had a great race in the 200," said Gay.

"I think that will be exciting for everyone in the sport," he added. "Besides that, I just want to have fun."