Is Asafa Faster?

Asafa Powell
Originally uploaded by Thomas Faivre-Duboz

Well Asafa Powell, former world record holder in the male 100 metre sprint, snatched victory from defeat this week.

He beat fellow-Jamaican, Usain Bolt (curent world-record holder), in a surprise 9.88 seconds-run in Stockholm, Sweden on Tuesday and he won his race in Britain today, in a whopping 9.77 seconds!

In the Stockholm race, we definitely saw that Bolt didn't have a good start and hence the defeat...for in the final fifteen (15) meters of the race, he seemed to notice that Asafa was ahead and went into 4th gear...nearly catching him at the finish line.

We've heard it said that if Bolt gets a good start, no one can catch him.

But I wonder if Usain Bolt realizes that at this level of the game...it is up to him, the athlete, to ensure that he has a good start, no matter the conditions?

Since Bolt knows that his start is a weakness...is he working on it?

He'd better be, for Asafa has been seemingly returning to his true form, and if his races, this week, are anything to go by, Bolt might just find himself second in Beijing.

The thing with Asafa though, is that he has been nagged by injury, for the better part of this year.

The question is, can he remain injury-free to really shine in Beijing?...to show the world that the one event (the Olympics) that has eluded him, won't elude him this time around?

Can Jamaicans now expect a Jamaican 1st and 2nd place in the Olympics in Beijing?...or will both Usain and Asafa stumble out of the blocks...not able to deal with the enormity of the event?

It's amazing that every time either of these two (2) men run...the world waits with bated breath to see if either will win his race or break the world record.

But what of Tyson Gay?...he ran a wind-assisted 9.68 seconds nearly four (4) weeks ago, at the US  Olympic Trials, only to injure himself at the same meet, in the 200 metres.

Hence the showdown between himself and Asafa didn't happen, as planned, today.

So is Asafa faster than Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay?...will he snatch the world record in Beijing?

Well, by the looks of things, he is and he just may do it!

Gillian

Sources Include:

1) Power 106 Sports News at 5:00, July 25, 2008