Finally, 100m record is dope-free

Asafa Powell, the softly spoken son of a preacher, has snatched the world 100 metres record away from a man who might have lost it anyway af...

Asafa Powell, the softly spoken son of a preacher, has snatched the world 100 metres record away from a man who might have lost it anyway after being charged with serious doping offences. The 22-year-old Jamaican clocked 9.77 seconds at the Athens Olympic stadium on Tuesday, one-hundredth of a second under the mark set by American Tim Montgomery at the 2002 Paris Grand Prix final.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will announce in the next few weeks whether Montgomery should be banned for life and lose his time and earnings from the Paris meeting.

Powell erased all doubts surrounding the record when he confirmed his excellent early season form with a finishing time of 9.78, rounded down by 0.01 of a second to ensure he took sole possession of the world mark. 8216;8216;This goes to show that no one knows how fast a man can run8217;8217;, a smiling Powell told reporters. 8216;8216;I am just happy to have set the record on a track where Maurice Greene also broke the world record.8217;8217;

8216;8216;I knew that I could break the world record and I am very happy that I succeeded8217;8217;, he said. 8216;8216;If you ask what I can do more this year, you will just have to wait until the end of this season to see.8217;8217;

First on Powell8217;s agenda, though, must be the Helsinki world championships in August. Two years ago he was disqualified in the quarter-finals at the Paris world championships. Last year he was unbeaten, apart from the only race which really mattered: the Olympic final, where he finished fifth.

Powell is only the fourth non-American to hold the world 100 metres record since 1912 and the first since Jamaican-born Canadian Donovan Bailey clocked 9.84 seconds in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic final. He also provides full vindication of a scheme set up in Jamaica by former hurdler Brigitte Foster to ensure young athletes do not feel impelled to move to the United States or Europe for economic reasons.

The Caribbean has been a fertile environment for world class male sprinters but, since Hasely Crawford won the 1976 Olympic 100 final for Trinidad, they have won the highest honours for their adopted countries. Ben Johnson, disqualified for doping after winning the 1988 Seoul Olympic final in 9.79 seconds, was born in Jamaica, as was Linford Christie who won the 1992 Olympic gold for Britain. Christie was succeeded by Bailey as world and Olympic champion.

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Powell, whose relaxed, laid back demeanour makes a pleasant contrast to the extrovert Americans, is clearly as talented as any sprinter in history and could well reduce the record further when the European summer really hots up. Asked on Tuesday how fast he could run, Powell smiled, shrugged and replied: 8220;Who knows? Nine-something?8221; Reuters

What a shock!: Montgomery

	nbsp;	8216;8216;What a shock!8217;8217; was the reaction of Tim Montgomery. 8216;8216;For me it is a real surprise, for several reasons. Firstly that we are at the beginning of the season and normally these sort of times come at the end of the campaign Montgomery set his mark in September. 8216;8216;Then it appears that he ran alone, by which I mean he did not have athletes of a similar level to push him. It is always easier with decent rivals Montgomery was pushed by subsequently disgraced British European 100m champion Dwain Chambers. FASTER HUMAN The fastest times in the 100-meter dash 8226; 9.77 Asafa Powell, Jamaica, June 14, 2005 8226; 9.78 Tim Montgomery, United States, Sept. 14, 2002 8226; 9.79 Maurice Greene, United States, June 16, 1999 8226; 9.80 Maurice Greene, United States, Aug. 22, 1999 8226; 9.82 Maurice Greene, United States, Aug. 5, 2001 8226; 9.84 Donovan Bailey, Canada, July 27, 1996 8226; 9.84 Bruny Surin, Canada, Aug. 22, 1999 8226; 9.84 Tim Montgomery, United States, July 13, 2001 8226; 9.84 Asafa Powell, Jamaica, May 7, 2005	nbsp;