Powell could contest sprint double next season
BY KAYON RAYNOR Observer staff reporter
Sunday, October 08, 2006
WORLD 100-metre record holder Asafa Powell looks set to attempt the sprint double at next year’s IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan.
POWELL … his coach believes that he could be the best 200-metre runner in the world, possibly the best runner ever
Powell’s manager Paul Doyle has hinted that the fastest man in the history of the sport could tackle both the 100 and 200 metres next summer, as he continues to hunt for his first global gold medal.
"It’s certainly been a great season for Asafa and we are looking to do pretty much the same thing next year.
Coach Francis is going to have him prepared to win the World Championships next year - whether that be in the 100 and the 200 or just the 100 is yet to be seen - but he certainly has the same goal for next year, which is to win every race that he runs and keep pushing his record down and down," Doyle told the Sunday Observer in an exclusive interview from California, USA, last week.
The World Championships takes place between August 24 and September 2.
Asked whether the 200 metres will become a fixture in Powell’s schedule in 2007, Doyle replied. “I know coach (Francis) has that in his plans for sure to start to run some more 200s… it’s not going to be the main focus for him next year, but coach certainly believes and I believe certainly as well, that Asafa could be the best 200-metre runner in the world, possibly the best 200 metres runner ever. I think he’s got as good a chance as anybody out there to beat Michael Johnson’s 19.32, so like I’ve said, I know coach is going to start to prepare him for the 200 next year and just sort of play it by air and see how the season goes,” Doyle noted.
Powell, who cruised 10.03 seconds to win the 100 metres Commonwealth Games gold in Melbourne, Australia - his first major title - ended the season unbeaten.
The Jamaican ‘superman’, who will celebrate his 24th birthday on November 23, racked-up a record 12 (legal) sub-10-second clockings in the main sprint event. Six of those times came in the Golden League, as he ended the six-meet series unbeaten and earned a share of the US$1 million jackpot (US$250,000).
In addition to regaining the number one spot in the IAAF’s 100-metre ranking and equalling the world record of 9.77 seconds twice, Powell also earned himself the distinction of being the only Jamaican man to have run sub-10 and sub-20 seconds in both the 100 and 200-metre races.
The St Catherine native became the 14th man in history to join this prestigious club on June 25 this year during the National Athletic Championships in Kingston, when he clocked 19.90 seconds to win the 200 metres.
In the meantime, Doyle, who is currently responsible to market the cadre of athletes competing under the MVP banner, told the Sunday Observer that a lot is expected from the camp next season. “The major focus for all the MVP athletes next year is going to be the World Championships and it’s looking like the MVP track club will probably be the one track club in the world that obtains the most medals,” Doyle said.
He added, “I think that a goal for us all, every athlete, even some athletes that have been developing, and could become factors like Kaliese Spencer and Shericka Williams, in addition to (Michael) Frater, (Brigitte) Foster-Hylton, (Sherone) Simpson and Powell, but we certainly hope to have many, many athletes next year winning medals”.