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Asafa Powell last night provided another stunning twist to this summer's story of the world 100 metres by running 9.72 seconds at the Athletissima Grand Prix in Lausanne. Powell was only 0.03sec outside the world record that his Jamaican team-mate Usain Bolt set in winning the Olympic title in Beijing. That was seen to be an untouchable time but Powell was brilliant, bursting from the blocks and taking charge of the race by 30m in a fashion it had seemed was a Bolt monopoly.
At one stage it looked like he might even regain the world record, and the gasps of astonishment when the clock showed his mark summed up the performance. Bolt was then outstanding himself in the 200m, winning in 19.63sec, but it was Powell's run which captured the imagination.
Powell had begun the year as world record-holder with 9.74 before Bolt ran 9.72 in New York. He was only fifth in the Olympic final but now he has shown how strong he remains despite persistent questions about his ability to hold his nerve in major championships, doubts he admitted last night. "Maybe I'm just not a guy for those championships," he said. "Maybe I'm only the kind of guy to compete in Grand Prix and Golden League races. When I'm on the circuit I'm always winning."
The rest were certainly left trailing him last night, with Walter Dix of the United States second in 9.92 and the Jamaican Nesta Carter third in 9.98. Powell will run again in Brussels on Friday and in the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart next week.
It is likely that he will face Bolt in one of those races, and the triple Olympic sprint champion showed he is feeling no after-effects from his sensational performances in Beijing with another blistering run last night. As in the Olympics Bolt slowed down with 20m left, having destroyed the rest of the field by halfway, but even if he had maintained full speed he might not have been quick enough to break his world record of 19.30. Churandy Martina, of the Netherlands Antilles, was second in 20.24 and the American Wallace Spearmon was third in 20.54.
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