DES MOINES, Iowa (AFP) — Tyson Gay flew to the year’s fastest 200m of 19.74 seconds at the US athletics championships yesterday to set himself up for a World Championships sprint double challenge.

Gay, who notched the season’s fastest 100m on Friday with a victory in 9.75, again demonstrated he is fit and ready to challenge six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt at the World Championships in Moscow August 10-18.

The 200m time by Gay eclipsed the 19.79 clocked by Bolt in Oslo on June 13 as the fastest in the world this year.

Gay powered through the curve and held on for the victory at Drake Stadium, with Isiah Young second in 19.86 and Curtis Mitchell third in 19.99.

Gay’s run followed his 100m victory on Friday and was further evidence that the 30-year-old sprinter is healthy after a series of injuries that dogged him in the wake of his 2007 world gold treble.

Veteran Wallace Spearmon, a former World Championships bronze and silver medallist, couldn’t book his Moscow berth, finishing fourth in 20.10.

US collegiate champion Kimberlyn Duncan pulled off an upset in the women’s 200m, winning in a wind-aided 21.80 while reigning Olympic champion Allyson Felix was second in 21.85.

That was good enough to ensure Felix will get a chance to regain the world title she surrendered in Daegu in 2011, after winning three straight world golds in 2005, 2007 and 2009. Jeneba Tarmoh was third in 22.15.