Asafa Powell failed over two attempts to break Usain Bolt’s world record in the 100m at the Rieti Grand Prix on Sunday.
Powell clocked 9.77 seconds in his semi-final heat and then ran 9.82 seconds to win the event on the same track where he set a then-world record of 9.74 seconds a year ago.
Powell false started before the final got off cleanly and his start in the race was not his best.
PHOTO: EPA
“If I got my normal start in the final I would have broken the world record,” Powell said. “I know that I can break the world record.”
Bolt established the current world mark of 9.69 seconds at last month’s Beijing Olympics, where Powell finished fifth.
Powell was helped by a slight tail wind for both of his runs on Sunday and had training partner Michael Frater running alongside him in the final. Still, he could not produce his best.
“In the heats I got a good start, but I didn’t run as hard in the last part of the race as I ran in the final,” Powell said, adding that he plans to run at least once more this season in Warsaw and possibly also at the season finals in Stuttgart, Germany, next weekend.
Bolt ended his season after beating Powell again in Brussels on Friday.
“I’m very tired, especially after running in Belgium,” Powell said. “But it was still a good performance.”
Frater, who teamed with Powell and Bolt on Jamaica’s team that set the 4x100m relay world record in Beijing, finished second in 9.98 seconds.
Ronald Pognon of France was third in 10.10 seconds on a clear evening in this central Italian town.
Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia failed to improve her world record in the 5,000m, winning in 14 minutes, 23.46 seconds — off the mark of 14 minutes, 11.15 seconds she set in June at the Bislett Games in Oslo.
Last month in Beijing, Dibaba became the first woman to sweep the 5,000m and 10,000m golds.
Dibaba’s 17-year-old sister Genzebe finished third on Sunday in 15 minutes, 9.61 seconds.
Like in Beijing, Jamaica’s sprinting dominance extended to the women’s races.
Jamaican Olympic gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser registered another victory in the 100m, clocking 11.06 seconds, with joint Beijing silver medalist Kerron Stewart again second in 11.11 seconds.
Also, Shericka Williams of Jamaica won the 200m in 22.50 seconds.
In the 400m hurdles, Malaine Walker followed up her Beijing gold by crossing in 55.01 seconds — significantly slower than her Olympic record 52.64 seconds. Olympic bronze medalist Tasha Danvers of Britain was second in 55.25 seconds.
Gelete Burka won the women’s mile in 4 minutes, 18.23 seconds, pulling away from Bahrain’s Maryam Yussuf Jamal in the final 30m. Jamal had intentions on breaking Svetlana Masterkova’s world record of 4 minutes, 12.56 seconds set in 1996, but crossed second in 4 minutes, 19.50 seconds.
Edwin Cheruiyot of Kenya clocked 7 minutes, 31.83 seconds for the best time this year in the 3,000m and world champion Bernard Lagat, the American who failed to win a medal in Beijing, got a small measure of revenge by taking the 1,500m in 3 minutes, 32.75 seconds — not far off Daniel Komen’s leading time this year of 3 minutes, 31.49 seconds.
World champion Alfred Kirwa Yego, the bronze medalist in Beijing, won the men’s 800m in 1 minute, 44.69 seconds. Olympic champion Wilfred Bungei crossed second in 1 minute, 45.05 seconds and rising Kenyan middle-distance specialist Asbel Kiprop — a silver medalist in the 1,500m in Beijing — was third in 1 minute, 45.15 seconds.
Olympic silver medalist Tatyana Lebedeva won the triple jump with a leap of 14.94m and fellow Russian Anna Pyatykh took second with 14.91m. Beijing winner Francoise Mbango Etone of Cameroon settled for third at 14.90m.
Miguel Pate of the US landed at 8.21m to win the long jump, while European outdoor and indoor champion Andrew Howe settled for fifth with 8.01m at his hometown meet.
Bothered by a series of injuries, Howe did not get through the qualifying round in Beijing.
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