Asafa Powell

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Image:Asafa powell.jpg

Asafa Powell (born 11 November 1982) is a Jamaican sprinter and the current 100 m world record holder.

Powell first came to the attention of the athletics world at the 2003 world championships when he suffered the ignominity of being the 'other' athlete disqualified for a false start in the semi-final where Jon Drummond memorably refused to leave the track having suffered the same fate. The following season Powell, one of the gold medal favorites for 2004 Olympic 100 m (after clocking sub-10 second times a record-equalling 9 times in a season), Powell finished a disappointing fifth in the Athens final. However, he gained some consolation by breaking the 100 m world record, in Athens again, on June 14, 2005, setting a time of 9.77 s. This beat American Tim Montgomery's 2002 record of 9.78 s (which was later disqualified due to doping allegations against Montgomery) by just one one-hundredth of a second. Coincidentally, Powell achieved the feat on the same track as Maurice Greene's 1999 world record of 9.79 s. Wind assistance for Powell was measured at 1.6 m/s - a gentle breeze - well within the IAAF legal limit of 2.0 m/s.

Asafa Powell was going to be an electrical engineer before he decided to start running. His elder brother Donovan Powell was a 100 m semi-finalist in the 1999 world championships. Unlike many of his compatriots, Powell decided against moving to the USA to further his career and continues to train in Kingston, Jamaica where he often runs on grass wearing flat shoes.

Asafa won the 2006 Commonwealth Games title easily but had to get through a drama filled semi-final which saw two disqualifications, 3 false starts and Powell himself running into another competitor's lane while looking at the scoreboard (he was held not to have impeded the other runner).


Contents

Physical characteristics

  • Height: 188 cm (6'2")
  • Weight 87 kg (192 lb)

Progression

100 m

Year Time Wind City Date
2002 10.12 +1.3 Rovereto 26 August 2002
2003 10.02 +0.8 Brussels 5 September 2003
2004 9.87 +0.2 Brussels 3 September 2004
2005 9.77 +1.6 Athens 14 June 2005

200 m

2002 20.48 +0.4 Rieti 9 September 2002
2004 20.06 +0.7 Monaco 19 September 2004

Progression 100 m in 2005

Time Wind City Date
10.04 +0.1 Kingston 25 June 2005
10.02 -0.3 London 22 July 2005
9.98 +1.9 Athens 14 June 2005
9.85 +0.6 Ostrava 9 June 2005
9.84 +1.8 Kingston 7 May 2005
9.77 +1.6 Athens 14 June 2005

Honours

60 m

Event Round City Date
10th world indoor 5th semifinal Budapest 5 March 2004

100 m

Event Round City Date
2nd Athletic Final IAAF 1st final Monaco 18 September 2004
2004 Olympic Games 5th final Athens 22 August 2004
1st Athletic Final IAAF 7th final Monaco 13 September 2003
2006 Commonwealth Games Winner final Melbourne 20 March 2006

200 m

Event Round City Date
2nd Athletic Final IAAF 1st final Monaco 19 September 2004
2004 Olympic Games 4th semifinal Athens 25 August 2004

External links

ca:Asafa Powell de:Asafa Powell et:Asafa Powell es:Asafa Powell fr:Asafa Powell id:Asafa Powell he:אסאפה פאוול nl:Asafa Powell ja:アサファ・パウエル no:Asafa Powell pl:Asafa Powell scn:Asafa Powell sr:Асафа Пауел fi:Asafa Powell pt:Asafa Powell sv:Asafa Powell zh:阿萨法·鲍威尔