Another impressive performance among many at the end of this season.
wont be surprise to see another WR.
He looked very impressive. He seemed to keep his head down for longer than normal today. He made 10.0 look very amateur!! Great climax to his season.
anybody know which site i can see the race?
Would guess youtube? Not sure. It was on Eurosport here.
Saturday 22 September 2007
Stuttgart, Germany – Asafa Powell has developed a knack for making even some of the most sensational performances in history seem almost routine.
Running against a 0.3 m/s wind and after a pair of false starts, Powell’s final blaze of glory in Europe this summer – a 100m victory in 9.83 seconds-- was certainly the finest performance of the first day of the 5th IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final. It was the 24-year-old Jamaican’s sixth fastest time ever, and his 11th at 9.85 or better. Indeed, Powell has been so fast so often that it’s easy to forget that only two other men have ever run faster than his winning time today.
Asafa Powell on his way to 9.83 seconds win in Stuttgart - World Athletics Final 2007
(Getty Images)
Seeming to relish his achievement, Powell was smiling and thoroughly pleased when assessing his performance.
“It was one of the best,” he said, after his ninth victory in ten 100m outings this season.
“When I crossed the line, I wished that it could have been a little more. But after two false starts and when I saw that the wind was minus, I said, ‘Whoa, that’s really good.’ But at first, I was looking for a little more.”
But it’s that lone defeat, to American Tyson Gay at the World Championships, that remains of primary interest among journalists who questioned the World record holder since that Osaka outing.
“I’m really happy right now,” Powell insisted, “that’s gone, it’s in the past. And I’m working very hard now. It’s good to get beat sometimes. It shows that you’re not unbeatable. And it motivates me to keep working hard. So now I just have to work hard to stay unbeaten.”
Powell has been on a tear since Osaka, continuing to rewrite the all-time list, topped by his sensational 9.74 run in Rieti.
“This season wasn’t the best for me,” he said, alluding to his bronze medal performance in Osaka, “but I’m still very happy. I bounced back very quickly from the World Championships, I’ve run some good times, the World record. My aim next year,” he continued, “is to compete as much and as well as possible. And to go to Beijing and come home with the gold medal.”
Powell insists that he’s not thinking about Gay, or his distant cousin, Osaka silver medallist Derrick Adkins, or anyone else in particular as he looks ahead to the Olympic campaign.
“I’m not really focusing on anybody right now. Tyson is very good, and I underestimated him in Osaka and I don’t want to make that mistake again.” Indeed, he’s looking forward to meeting his American rival prior to Beijing.
“Next year I hope to race him before the Olympics,” he said. “I’m not 100 percent sure (if they’ll meet before then), but I hope so. It’s important.”
Powell said that he’ll make but one change to his training regiment next season.
“The only thing I’m going to change is attend practice everyday,” he said with a wide grin, explaining that he missed nearly two months of training in the early spring. “At first I was injured, and then I was resting… a little bit too much.”
Before he begins his planned break next month, he’ll be wrapping up the season with a pair of 200m appearances, first in Shanghai and then Yokohama.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
Some progress… now let’s just hope he does this like that he reaches Beijing more sure of himself.
“Next year I hope to race him before the Olympics,” he said. “I’m not 100 percent sure (if they’ll meet before then), but I hope so. It’s important.”
If this guy doesn’t win it all next year, he better not appear in public again in his life. Geez. The guy is in a league of his own. 9.8x is “routine” for this guy. Insane.
If this guy doesn’t win it all next year, he better not appear in public again in his life. Geez. The guy is in a league of his own. 9.8x is “routine” for this guy. Insane.
Its comments like those that make atheletes feel a lot more pressured than they are supposed to.
“I’m really happy right now,” Powell insisted, “that’s gone, it’s in the past. And I’m working very hard now. It’s good to get beat sometimes. It shows that you’re not unbeatable. And it motivates me to keep working hard. So now I just have to work hard to stay unbeaten.”
“I’m not really focusing on anybody right now. Tyson is very good, and I underestimated him in Osaka and I don’t want to make that mistake again.” Indeed, he’s looking forward to meeting his American rival prior to Beijing.
“The only thing I’m going to change is attend practice everyday,” he said with a wide grin, explaining that he missed nearly two months of training in the early spring. “At first I was injured, and then I was resting… a little bit too much.”
Appears Powell got lazy and was in cruise mode.
BBC reports that Asafa eased to the line (again?!?). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/7008567.stm
For those of you who have seen this race, how many steps did he appear to relax on, and/or how much time did he give up? It couldn’t have been much.
He ran through the line.
yeah i can confirm that he ran throught the line.
but saying he underestimated gay is slightly different to what he was saying just after the wc…
still i think he’ll win next year barring injury.
The quality is horrible, but it’s the first online version I’ve seen.
“The only thing I’m going to change is attend practice everyday,” he said with a wide grin, explaining that he missed nearly two months of training in the early spring. “At first I was injured, and then I was resting… a little bit too much.”
My suspicions about AP’s training approach and relationship with his Coach have been confirmed with this comment.
See what happens when you start listening to your coach 
Sometimes they like to twist the stories a lil bit… But you never know… but if he really said that well… :eek:
I’ve searched the IAAF news threads, read (admittedly without total attention) the two daily wraps of the World Athletics Final, but I could not find the reason Jeremy Wariner did not run the 400?
Anyone in the know on this one please?
thanks John, at least he’s not injured then.
There must be some wheeling and dealing going on behind the scenes. I saw the list of qualifiers for WAF 400 and from memory he was on there (top i think).
Maybe he was asking for too much in appearance fees.
THIS LINKS TO A VIDEO OF POWELL’S 100M WIN IN THE WAF (Stuttgart)
wow, he didnt just run to the line, he ran at least 5-10m past the line… awsome.