Athletes

In the yearbook archives at Charlemont High School in Jamaica there is an entry from a young Asafa Powell. It reads: Ambition? Famous athlete. Destiny? Break world record.

Asafa has already achieved everything he set out to do when he left high school. But something is missing: a global title. He has realised that there’s more to athletics than being famous and running fast times.

His first moment in the spotlight was not quite how he’d envisaged it: he was disqualified — along with America’s John Drummond — in the infamous men’s 100m final at the 2003 World Championships. Drummond protested by lying down on the track.

But one year later Asafa became famous for the right reason: a string of sub-10-second international victories leading up to the Athens Olympics. This made him a strong favourite to win the Blue Riband event of the Games. But, weighed down by the pressure heaped on his young shoulders, he finished fifth.

He returned to Athens in 2005 and set a world record: 9.77. Subsequently, however, he sustained an injury and had to skip the World Championships. Another global opportunity missed.

Powell won the Commonwealth Games title and twice equalled his own world record in 2006. But at the 2007 World Championships he again crumbled under pressure and had to settle for the 100m bronze behind America’s Tyson Gay and Bahamian Derrick Atkins.

The pattern was becoming familiar: two weeks after this disappointment Asafa set a new world record — 9.74 — in Rieti, Italy.

Quiet, humble and introverted, Asafa does not fit the arrogant speedster stereotype. But he’s a legend in Jamaica, where the standard of sprinting continues to rapidly rise. All he needs now is that global gold.

Interview

There is no interview for Asafa Powell at the moment. We're hoping to catch up with him soon.