SHANGHAI — Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell is looking to bounce back quickly from a minor hamstring injury he suffered in a race last week with a strong performance in the 100 meters at Sunday’s Shanghai Diamond League meet.
American David Oliver will also attempt to defend his 18-race win streak in the 110-meter hurdles against a field that includes Chinese Olympic champion Liu Xiang.
Powell injured his hamstring during a 200-meter race last weekend at the Jamaica International Invitational in Kingston, finishing in last place.
The former 100-meter world record holder said he didn’t expect the injury to affect him in Shanghai, where he’ll face a strong challenge from American Michael Rodgers, who was third in the 100 in Kingston with a time of 9.96 seconds.
“I got a small injury and I didn’t want to hurt myself anymore, so I pretty much stopped early,” Powell said Friday. “I’m good now, and I’m in good shape.”
Usain Bolt, who won the 200 at the Shanghai Diamond League meet last year, is not competing at the event this year. American Tyson Gay is also skipping Shanghai, running a 150 in Manchester, England, on Sunday instead.
Bolt, Gay and Powell have not raced against each other in the 100 since the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, where Bolt set a new world record of 9.58 seconds.
Powell plans to race both Bolt and Gay in separate races this summer as part of his preparations for the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, in late August.
“It’s good for me that I can meet them before the championships,” he said. “It gives me a confidence boost to know where I’m at in training and what I need to work on.”
Oliver, who hasn’t lost in a 110-meter hurdles final since August 2009, is coming off a win Thursday at a meet in Daegu, where he set a time of 13.13. He beat Liu, the 2004 Olympic champion, last year in Shanghai.
Liu has been trying to regain his form after struggling with injuries for much of the past two years. He won the 110 hurdles at the Asian Games in November in 13:09.
Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown, the two-time Olympic 200 gold medalist, will also be looking to build on her confidence in the women’s 100 before the World Championships, where she plans to compete in both the 100 and 200.
She’ll get a tough test in Shanghai against American Carmelita Jeter, who clocked the fastest time in the world in the 100 this year — 10.86 seconds — in Kingston last weekend. Jeter also won the 100 in Daegu on Thursday.
“I want to run a very efficient race. I know the competition will be good,” Campbell-Brown said. “I’m just going to focus on me and what I’m wanting to do.”
In the long jump, three-time world champion Dwight Phillips of the United States said he’s hoping to use Shanghai as a springboard toward a possible fourth world title in South Korea. This will be his first competition of the year.
“I’m looking forward to competing against all these great jumpers,” he said. “This is just the starting point for me.”