Powell sets season-best 9.78 in 100 at Lausanne
Source: Agencies |
July 2, 2011, Saturday
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ASAFA Powell ran the fastest time of this world championships season on Thursday, winning the 100 meters in 9.78 seconds at Athletissima in Switzerland.
Powell's sprint, powered by a strong start on a cool, blustery night, was 0.01 faster than the now-injured Tyson Gay managed on June 4 at Clermont, Florida.
"It was a fantastic race. I was very confident actually that I was going to run good," said the 28-year-old Jamaican.
Powell also was 0.13 quicker than Usain Bolt's season best, set at the Rome Diamond League meet last month when Powell was second.
Two months ahead of the worlds in Daegu, South Korea, Powell said he was not thinking of the biggest barrier to his first major individual gold medal.
"It's not really a message to anybody - it's just for me," said Powell, who held the world record for three years until Bolt's devastating breakthrough in 2008. Smiling broadly, Powell said with seeming unintended irony that he's reaching his best form "slowly but surely."
"It will get better and better as the season goes on," said Powell, who has Bolt's 9.58 world record to aim for. "9.6 is in my range."
Powell, aided by a following wind of 1.0 meters per second, required a few more gusts to threaten his career-best 9.72 set here in September 2008.
"The track must love me," said Powell, who pulled Jamaican teammate Michael Frater to a personal best of 9.88 in second. Third-placed Christophe Lemaitre equalled his French record of 9.95.
Powell was the undoubted star of the Diamond League event, as 800 world record-holder David Rudisha won, by his remarkable standards, in a relatively sedate 1 minute, 44.15 seconds, and Blanka Vlasic sustained another surprise loss in the high jump.
"I had problems with my knee and ankle and today was so cold, so it didn't help," said Vlasic.
Powell's sprint, powered by a strong start on a cool, blustery night, was 0.01 faster than the now-injured Tyson Gay managed on June 4 at Clermont, Florida.
"It was a fantastic race. I was very confident actually that I was going to run good," said the 28-year-old Jamaican.
Powell also was 0.13 quicker than Usain Bolt's season best, set at the Rome Diamond League meet last month when Powell was second.
Two months ahead of the worlds in Daegu, South Korea, Powell said he was not thinking of the biggest barrier to his first major individual gold medal.
"It's not really a message to anybody - it's just for me," said Powell, who held the world record for three years until Bolt's devastating breakthrough in 2008. Smiling broadly, Powell said with seeming unintended irony that he's reaching his best form "slowly but surely."
"It will get better and better as the season goes on," said Powell, who has Bolt's 9.58 world record to aim for. "9.6 is in my range."
Powell, aided by a following wind of 1.0 meters per second, required a few more gusts to threaten his career-best 9.72 set here in September 2008.
"The track must love me," said Powell, who pulled Jamaican teammate Michael Frater to a personal best of 9.88 in second. Third-placed Christophe Lemaitre equalled his French record of 9.95.
Powell was the undoubted star of the Diamond League event, as 800 world record-holder David Rudisha won, by his remarkable standards, in a relatively sedate 1 minute, 44.15 seconds, and Blanka Vlasic sustained another surprise loss in the high jump.
"I had problems with my knee and ankle and today was so cold, so it didn't help," said Vlasic.
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