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Powell wants fastest-man tag all to himself
Thursday, July 6, 2006
PARIS, France (AFP): Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell on Wednesday said he was determined to go faster than any man has ever gone to reclaim the 100m title he grudgingly shares with American Justin Gatlin.
"For me this year the best thing would be breaking the world record," said the 23-year-old who set the new 9.77-second mark at Athen's Olympic stadium in June last year.
"It's not that I want it only for myself, I am going to have it only for myself," he said three days before the second round of the Golden League in Paris Saturday.
While Powell equalled his personal best at Gateshead in England on June 9 this year, his rival in the meantime had drawn abreast with 9.77 seconds in Doha on May 12.
But the Jamaican is adamant that he is the top man.
"Nobody can stop me saying it. Before Justin ran 9.77 I had already done it and then I did it again," Powell said.
"So until he can show he can do it again, I am still the fastest."
Throughout the year, the two have talked up their rivalry while apparently incapable of coming eye to eye on the same track in the same event.
Uncertainty surrounds a showdown flagged for the London Grand Prix on July 28 after Powell's coach Stephen Francis suggested he might run the 200m instead.
After hearing his rival was running at Gateshead last month, Gatlin pulled out, leaving Powell to equal "their" record for a second time.
The pair's last duel almost a year ago in London was something of an anti-climax when on July 22 Gatlin took honours after Powell pulled up with an injury.
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