POWELL…I am trying to get my 100th sub-10 as well; that's one of the main focus this year (Photo: AFP)
A lot of Jamaican fans were left disappointed when Asafa Powell withdrew from the 2017 staging of the World Relays in The Bahamas last weekend. The failure of the Jamaican Men's 4x100-metre relay team to advance from the heats of that event only served to compound the issue. But one of the favourite sons of the soil is planning on putting back the smiles on the faces of his legion of fans very soon.Having closed the 2016 track and field season on 98 sub-10 clockings in the 100m, Powell says that getting to the landmark figure of 100 sub-10 clockings is definitely one of his priorities this year, and he aims to get it done right here on local soil.
“It's a world championship season and I am preparing for it. I have a few Diamond Leagues to attend, next week I will be running in Doha, and I am trying to get my 100th sub-10 as well — that's one of the main focus this year,” Powell said.
“Definitely here in Jamaica is where I want to get it done. I am saving it for Jamaica. Fans can come out for the Jamaica Invitational to see me make it 100 sub-tens.”
Only two years ago Powell ran 9.84s in the 100m at the Jamaica International Invitational, which at the time was a world lead in the event. If he reports in that shape on Saturday May 20th, then not only Jamaica but the world will be able to revel in one of the greatest feats in the history of track and field, something unlikely to be repeated in the event for a very long time.
The 34-year-old has a personal best of 9.72s, run in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2008 — which was then a world record. His personal best of 19.90s in the 200m was done here in Jamaica in 2006.
—Dwayne Richard
