From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Asafa Powell (born 23 November 1982) is a Jamaican sprinter, and is currently the 100m world record holder, along with Justin Gatlin, with a time of 9.77 seconds.

Contents 1 Career 2 Sponsorships 3 Physical characteristics 4 Trivia 5 Progression 5.1 100 m 5.2 200 m 5.3 100 m races in 2005 5.4 100 m races in 2006 6 Honours 6.1 60 m 6.2 100 m 6.3 200 m 7 See also 8 External links

Asafa Powell was going to be an electrical engineer before he decided to start running. His elder brother Donovan 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 "flats" (non spiked running shoes).

Powell first came to the attention of the athletics world at the 2003 world championships when he suffered the ignominy 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 (Drummond was later proved to have not false started).

The following season Powell was one of the gold medal favorites for 2004 Olympic 100 m, after clocking sub-10 second times a record-equaling 9 times in a season. However, Powell finished a disappointing fifth in the Athens final.

The following year, he gained some consolation by breaking the 100 m world record, in Athens 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 annulled due to BALCO 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 - within the IAAF legal limit of 2.0 m/s.

Asafa won the 2006 Commonwealth Games title easily but had to get through a drama-filled semi-final which saw two disqualifications, three 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).

Powell's world record appeared to be broken on May 12, 2006 by Justin Gatlin's mark of 9.76 s +1.7m/s wind. However, according to IAAF rules, his unofficial time of 9.7660 should have been rounded to an official time of 9.77, not 9.76. Gatlin and Powell currently share the record of 9.77 seconds.

Powell then equalled his world record time on June 11, 2006 at Gateshead International Stadium (the very precise time was 9.7629 +1.5m/s wind, rounded up to 9.77). August 18 2006, Powell ran the world record time of 9.77 +1.0m/s wind for the third time in Zurich, Switzerland. Together with Jeremy Wariner (400 m) and Sanya Richards (400 m) he won his sixth out of six Golden League events (100 m) in the same season, which earned him a total of $250,000. On November 12 2006 he was awarded the title of 2006 Male World Athlete of the Year along with a cheque for $100,000.

To date Powell has legally run under 10 seconds 25 times. Only Frankie Fredericks (27), Ato Boldon (28) and Maurice Greene (52) have more sub 10 times to their name. Powell is the only man to have run legally under 9.80 seconds three times, and is the only man to have run legally under 10.00 seconds 12 times in a season.

On April 24, 2006, Asafa was announced as global brand spokesperson for Nutrilite. Asafa began taking Nutrilite supplements three months before he broke the world record, and credits it with helping him overcome low energy levels during 2005. [1]

• Height: 190 cm (6 ft 4 in)
• Weight 88 kg (194 lb)

• Asafa means "Rising to the Occasion".

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
2006	9.77	+1.0	Zürich	18 August 2006

2002	20.48	+0.4	Rieti	9 September 2002
2004	20.06	+0.7	Monaco	19 September 2004
2006	19.90	+1.3	Kingston	25 June 2006[2]

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

Time	Wind	City	Date
10.03	+0.2	Melbourne, Australia	20 March 2006
9.98	-0.9	Oslo, Norway	02 June 2006
9.96	+1.6	Oslo, Norway	02 June 2006
9.95	-0.6	Kingston	06 May 2006
9.91	-0.6	London, United Kingdom	28 July 2006
9.86	+0.2	Stockholm, Sweden	25 July 2006
9.85	+0.5	Rome, Italy	14 July 2006
9.85	+0.1	Paris, France	8 July 2006
9.77	+1.5	Gateshead, United Kingdom	11 June 2006
9.77	+1.0	Zürich, Switzerland	18 August 2006
9.99	+0.3	Brussels, Belgium	25 August 2006
9.86	-0.5	Berlin, Germany	03 September 2006
9.89	+0.9	Stuttgart, Germany	09 September 2006

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

Event	Round	City	Date
4th Athletic Final IAAF	1st Final	Stuttgart	09 September 2006
2006 Commonwealth Games	Winner final	Melbourne	20 March 2006
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

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

• World record progression 100 metres men

• IAAF profile for Asafa Powell
• Asafa Powell Fansite
• Another Asafa Powell fansite

Preceded by Danny McFarlane

Jamaica Sportsman of the Year 2005

Succeeded by Vacant