by Talek Harris
SHANGHAI, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - World record holder Asafa Powell on Thursday said he had been barred from facing arch-rival Tyson Gay in the Golden Grand Prix 100 metres here.
The big Jamaican, who is running the 200m instead, said he was not allowed'' to face world champion Gay but had no idea why. I wanted to run the 100 metres but I wasn’t allowed to,’’ Powell told a press conference.
``I don’t know why – you’ll have to ask my manager.’’
The two share the hottest rivalry in athletics but have faced each other only once this year, when American Gay blitzed Powell at last month’s Osaka world championships.
Just days later Powell lowered his world record to 9.74 seconds, heightening the intense competition between them.
At first when I heard, I kept asking my manager why I was running the 200,'' Powell said. They know I don’t like the 200 because it hurts afterwards. I wanted to run the 100 but they said run the 200, so that’s what I have to do.’’
American sensation Gay, who streaked to three sprint golds in Osaka, said he was also in the dark.
Asafa wants to run the 100, I don't really know what's going on with the situation either,'' he said. Maybe someone wants to see the big match-up in Beijing. I don’t know.’’
But Powell’s manager Paul Doyle said Gay was not keen to face Powell so soon after his Osaka victory.
When these athletes match up they need to be 100 percent and I think Tyson is not ready at this stage of the season to race Asafa,'' he said. If I was in his shoes, I wouldn’t want to race either – there’s very little for him to gain and a lot for him to lose.’’
Doyle said he was in talks with Gay’s management to engineer more meetings and was hoping for two match-ups next season before the Beijing Olympics in August.
It's something we realise the world wants to see. I know Asafa is hungry to race Tyson and make up for his loss in Osaka,'' he said. The only thing I’m not sure about is Tyson’s motivation to race Asafa.’’
Gay said he was excited'' about Powell's new record, set in Rome on September 9, and admitted he coveted the tag of world's fastest man. The gold medal is very important to me but right now Asafa Powell is the fastest man that ever walked the earth. That’s a great privilege to have,’’ Gay said.
Powell, branded a choker after his bronze-medal finish in Osaka, said the record was his proudest achievement.
``I’d love to have a gold medal but I wouldn’t give up my record for anything you could give me. Anything else in the world,’’ he said.
Friday’s Golden Grand Prix kicks off a mini-Asian tour with many of the world’s top athletes also visiting Yokohama in Japan and South Korea’s Daegu in the coming days.