Asafa Powell
From WikiRun
| Asafa Powell | |
| Event | sprints |
|---|---|
| Height | 190 cm |
| Weight | 88 kg |
| PR | 60m: 6.56 (2004); 100m: 9.72 (2008)[1]
200m: 19.90 (2006); 400m: 47.17 (2007) |
| Born | Nov. 23, 1982 at Spanish Town, Jamaica |
| College | University of Technology |
| Coach | Stephen Francis |
Asafa Powell (1982—) is a Jamaican sprinter and the son of two ministers. He previously held the 100 metres World Record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell also ran the anchor leg of the gold medal winning and World Record setting, Jamaican men's 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. His personal best time in the 100 m of 9.72 seconds, is also the joint second-fastest time in the history of the event.
Contents |
Career
Asafa Powell planned to be a mechanic before he took up running while studying in Kingston, Jamaica.[2][3] His elder brother Donovan Powell, was a 100 m semi-finalist in the 1999 World Championships[4] and was a member of the 4x100m relay team at the 2000 Summer Olympics.[5]
2003
Powell first came to attention within the world of track at the 2003 World Championships, when he was disqualified for a false start in the quarter-final. This was when Jon Drummond memorably refused to leave the track having suffered the same fate.[6][7] During the 2003 season, Powell won 2 IAAF Grand Prix events, 1 of which was a Golden League event.
2004
The following season, Powell was expected to win a medal at the 2004 Olympic's 100 m race in Athens, after winning the Jamaican National Championships with a personal best time of 9.91 s. Although he ended the season with a record-equaling nine sub-10 second runs, Powell finished just fifth in the highly competitive Olympic final, with a time of 9.94 s. Following this he pulled out of the 200 m final, even though he had already qualified for it earlier on. He recorded 5 IAAF Grand Prix wins in 2004, in addition to winning the 100 m race at the World Athletics Final.
2005
In 2005 Powell again won the 100 m Final at the Jamaican National Championships. He broke the 100 m World Record in Athens on June 14, 2005, setting a time of 9.77 s, beating American Tim Montgomery's 2002 record of 9.78 s (which was later annulled due to doping charges against Montgomery) by just 0.01 seconds.[8] Coincidentally, Powell achieved the feat on the same track as Maurice Greene's 1999 World Record run of 9.79 s. Wind assistance for Powell was measured at 1.6 m/s, within the IAAF legal limit of 2.0 m/s. A groin injury in July cut short his 2005 season, after two IAAF Grand Prix event wins.
2006
Powell won the 200 m at the Jamaican National Championships, and he won ten 100 m IAAF Grand Prix events, including a 6-for-6 performance in the Golden League events. Powell won the 2006 Commonwealth Games 100 metres race after a drama-filled semi-final which saw two disqualifications and three false starts. Powell himself ran into another competitor's lane while looking at the scoreboard, however he was held not to have impeded the runner. He also anchored the 4 x 100 m relay team, and finished the Commonwealth Games with two gold medals.
Powell then equaled his World Record time on June 11, 2006 at Gateshead International Stadium, with wind assistance measured at +1.5 m/s. On August 18 2006 in Zürich, Powell equalled it again for the third time, with wind assistance at +1.0 m/s. He won his sixth IAAF Golden League event (in the 100 m) the same season, thus earning him a total of $250,000 in prize money. Powell also won the 100 m at the World Athletics Final.
2007
Powell was again the Jamaican National Champion for the 100 m in 2007. However, he finished 3rd in the 100 m final at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan behind Tyson Gay, who was considered Powell's biggest rival building up to the Championships. Derrick Atkins, a reported second cousin of Powell's, came second in 9.91 seconds. Powell himself finished in a time of 9.96 seconds (running in a 0.5 m/s headwind) after being passed by Gay and Atkins in the late stages of the race. Later he admitted that after seeing Gay pass him, he panicked and gave up, allowing Atkins to also overtake.
When Tyson came on and gave me a little bit of pressure I just panicked. When I saw I wasn't in gold medal contention, I gave up in the middle of the race. I just stopped running. [9]
Former American sprinter Michael Johnson was critical of Powell's performance, stating: "[Y]ou could see him thinking, I'm losing it, I'm losing it, and he just gave up at that point. That's what was really disappointing. He just dropped his head."[10]
Powell did help to win the silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay race. Running the anchor leg for the Jamaican team, he came from fifth and passed Great Britain at the line to help record a Jamaican national record of 37.89 seconds. The USA meanwhile, took gold.
On September 9 2007, in the opening heats of the IAAF Rieti Grand Prix in Rieti, Italy, Powell ran a new World Record time of 9.74 s (+1.7 m/s) in the 100 m. This was intended to make up for the disappointment of not becoming World Champion.[11] Remarkably, Powell eased up in the final few meters of his record-setting run, indicating that he was saving his strength for the final.[12] In the final itself, Powell finished in 9.78 s (0 m/s windspeed) and bettered his semi-final time, when adjusted for wind assistance.[13] Powell finished 2007 with a total of 5 IAAF Gran Prix event wins, plus his second consecutive World Athletic Final 100 m win. Unfortunately, Powell ended his season on September 30 with a left hamstring injury, suffered during the 200 m race at the Super Track & Field meet in Yokohama, Japan.
2008
Powell's 2008 season started much as his 2007 season ended: with another injury. Powell was forced to pull out of the Sydney Grand Prix meet, having suffered a gash to his left knee that required four stitches. The injury was a result of tripping on the steps of his home, hours before getting on the flight to Sydney on February 12th.
Powell was again injured in April, this time with damage to his pectoral muscles. The injury forced Powell out of competition for two months, and was sustained while weight training in Jamaica during mid-April. Surgery was required, and a visible scar was left on his right underarm.
On May 31, fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt ran a time of 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York City, and took the 100 m World Record that Powell had held for nearly three years.
On July 11, Powell suffered his third injury of 2008 while leading in Heat 1 of the Golden Gala Roma. He had injured his groin (described as a "strain" and a "cramp"), and was forced to miss the next two events on the Grand Prix schedule. [14] Powell made his comeback at the DN Galan, where he beat the new World Record holder Bolt, in a close race, and lead home a Jamaican 1-2-3-4 with Nesta Carter and Michael Frater following the pair. This top four would later combine to run the 4 x 100m relay at the Olympics.
Prior to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Powell hit back at the claims saying he lacked the mental strength needed to win an Olympic gold medal.
"It [the Olympics] doesn't scare me. The guys that I'm running against in Beijing are the same ones I run against all year, it's no different at the Olympics - it's just a name, and you should put that aside until you cross the line." If all you guys look back and check from before, you'll see that Athens was my first Olympics, I ran my personal best in the final - so I'm not sure why people say I don't run my best in finals. The World Championships was the only final where I didn't do as expected. I made a once-in-a-lifetime mistake and it won't happen again. I'm running against myself - I'm the only one who can defeat myself and I don't intend to. [15]
Despite his words, the 100 m final saw Powell again finish in a disappointing fifth, recording a time of 9.95 seconds. Teammates Bolt and Michael Frater also raced in the final. Bolt won and broke his own World Record (finishing in 9.69 seconds) and Frater came sixth, recording his first sub-10 clocking at 9.97 seconds.
Seven days later, Powell finally got his first Olympic gold as he anchored the Jamaican 4 x 100 m relay team to victory, helping establish a new World Record in the process. His Split time was recorded at 8.70 seconds (USTAF High Performance Registered Split Analysis), bettering his previous record of 8.84 set in Osaka, 2007. This is the fastest electronically timed anchor run in history, as Bob Hayes was hand timed as running 8.5 seconds in the 1964 Olympics.
On September 2, 2008, Powell ran a new personal best in the 100 m by recording a time of 9.72 seconds, with windspeed measured at +0.2m/s at the Athletissima Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland. After the run, Powell said that Bolt's record performance at the Olympics had inspired him to target a time of 9.59 seconds:
Two years ago I said to myself I could go 9.65 or faster but based on how Usain is running it's my aim now to go below 9.6. Usain can obviously run very fast but I'm not going to put him out of my reach. I'd say in the Olympic 100 m it looked like Usain could have run 9.63, 9.65 maybe. I was shocked to see what he did in the race, it was ridiculous. I can't imagine the times he's capable of running at the moment. He's the man to beat right now but before it was me and if I can break another world record then I'll be the one back in the spotlight. [16]
2008 was Powell's second-best season on the Grand Prix circuit, claiming 7 victories.
On his return to Jamaica, Powell was honoured in a homecoming celebration and received an Order of Distinction in recognition of his achievements at the Olympics.[17]
Achievements
60 m
| Event | Result | City | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th world indoor | 5th Semifinal | Budapest | 5 March 2004 |
100 m
| Event | Result (Pos) | City | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Athletic Final IAAF | 7th Final | Monaco | 13 September 2003 |
| 2004 Olympic Games | 5th Final | Athens | 22 August 2004 |
| 2nd Athletic Final IAAF | 1st Final | Monaco | 18 September 2004 |
| 2006 Commonwealth Games | 1st Final | Melbourne | 20 March 2006 |
| 4th Athletic Final IAAF | 1st Final | Stuttgart | 9 September 2006 |
| 11th IAAF World Championships | 3rd Final | Osaka | 26 August 2007 |
| 5th Athletic Final IAAF | 1st Final | Stuttgart | 22 September 2007 |
| 2008 Olympic Games | 5th Final | Beijing | 16 August 2008 |
| 6th Athletic Final IAAF | 1st Final | Stuttgart | 13 September 2008 |
200 m
| Event | Result | City | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 Olympic Games | 4th Semifinal | Athens | 25 August 2004 |
| 2nd Athletic Final IAAF | 1st Final | Monaco | 20 September 2004 |
4 x 100 m relay
| Event | Result | City | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 Commonwealth Games | 2nd Final | Manchester | |
| 2003 World Championships | DQ Final | Paris | 31 August2003 |
| 2005 World Championships | 4th Final | Helsinki | 13 August2005 |
| 2006 Commonwealth Games | 1st Final | Melbourne | 25 March2006 |
| 2007 World Championships | 2nd Final | Osaka | 1 September2007 |
| 2008 Olympic Games | 1st Final | Beijing | 22 August2008 |
Sponsorship
Powell has been under contract with Nike since 2004, representing them in all his IAAF races, and agreeing to appear in various advertising campaigns for the company. Nike designed and built the Zoom Aerofly shoes for him, to be used at the 2008 Beijing Games. [18]
In January 2006, Powell signed as a global brand spokesperson for Nutrilite, the world's leading brand of vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements. Nutrilite products are sold through Amway corporation. [19]
Powell was honored as Jamaica Sportsman of the Year in 2005 through 2008, and Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 2006.
External links
- Official Website
- IAAF profile for Asafa Powell
- Details on Asafa Powell's personalised Nike Zoom Aerofly spikes
- SPIKES Hero profile on www.spikesmag.com
- "Asafa Powell", n°11 on Time’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"
References
- ↑ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10530541&ref=rss
- ↑ Powell listens to his coach and smashes 100 m world record
- ↑ Meet the fastest man ever
- ↑ Asafa Powell one stylish record holder.
- ↑ http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/po/donovan-powell-1.html Retrieved 2008-10-23.
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/world_athletics_2003/3177243.stm
- ↑ 2003 WC Pressure Plate Readout
- ↑ Shipley, Amy. "Powell Sets World Record in 100", Washington Post, June 15, 2005, p. E5.
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/6965480.stm
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/6964721.stm
- ↑ Sports Illustrated News Article retrieved 9 September 2007
- ↑ Asafa Powell Breaks World 100 m Record
- ↑ Wind / Altitude correction in the 100 m sprint
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/7502906.stm
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/athletics/7523910.stm
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/7594861.stm
- ↑ Welcoming home our Olympians. Jamaica Gleaner (2008-10-05). Retrieved on 2008-10-20.
- ↑ Asafa Poweel debuts Zoom Aerofly in Beijing
- ↑ Amway and Nutrilite Athletes
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