Powell-Gay sprint showdown to stand out at Osaka worlds

By John Bagratuni Aug 20, 2007, 10:07 GMT

Osaka - Jamaican world record holder Asafa Powell must overcome the ghosts of the past in a hyped 100 metres showdown with American challenger Tyson Guy at the 11th world athletics championships which start on Saturday.

Powell and Gay have so far not met this season, with Gay leading the 2007 list with 9.84 seconds to Powell's 9.90.

Powell's world record stands at 9.77 seconds, but he lacks a major title. He was disqualified at the 2003 worlds, had to settle for fifth at the 2004 Olympics and missed the 2005 worlds due to injury.

Now he is back, and it is only fitting that the name Powell is to make headlines in Osaka.

After all, Mike Powell of the US got all the attention when the athletics worlds were held in Japan the first time 1991 in Tokyo, soaring a world record 8.95m in an epic long jump duel with Carl Lewis.

That edition featured 1,517 athletes from 164 countries.

The Osaka championships which run until September 2 could see a final list of more than 1,700 athletes from over 200 countries competing for 49 gold medals in front of a cumulative television audience of more than 5 billion.

'Only the Olympic Games and the (football) World Cup are bigger than the world championships in terms of global reach and impact,' said Lamine Diack, head of the ruling body IAAF who stands unopposed for re-election on Wednesday.

Powell, meanwhile, can not expect an easy ride, with Gay emerging as a serious rival. Both have nursed injuries in the summer, but are expected to be fully fit in Osaka where the four 100m rounds are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

'Everybody's looking forward to the matchup. I'm going to bring my best. I know Tyson's coming, and I'm watching out for him,' said Powell in a recent interview with ESPN Magazine.

Gay said: 'I've read that I'm ducking Asafa or Asafa's ducking me. That's not true. The key is both of us being healthy and being physically and mentally ready in Osaka.'

A world record - bringing with it 100,000 dollars on top of the 60,000-dollar winners cheque - is not out of the question on the superfast Osaka track.

But both runners are aware that records also lead to doping concerns, given that former record holders Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin, the latter the reigning 100m world and Olympic champion, have been caught cheating.

'It hurt my record. When Justin and I were competing, we were the top guys in the event. He tested positive, and the world starts to pinpoint the next guy, which is me. Now people say, If Justin was on drugs, then Asafa must be on drugs too. That's very hard,' said Powell.

In order to deter cheaters, the IAAF is carrying out a record number of more than 1,000 tests at the Osaka championships, up from 885 at the 2005 edition in Helsinki.

'The IAAF is determined to ensure that these championships highlight our ongoing and aggressive commitment to the war on doping,' said Diack.

Gatlin is the most prominent doping-related absentee, with hammer throw world record holder Tatyana Lysenko of Russia and Slovenian 800m European champion Jolanda Ceplak other offenders.

Gay is the top pick for the 200m in a strong US team in which world and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner could attack Michael Johnson's 400m world record of 43.19 seconds, having two weeks ago clocked 43.50 seconds.

The US garnered a record 14 gold medals two years ago, with other contenders including sprinter Allyson Felix, hurdler Michelle Perry and new 1,500m sensation Alan Webb.

Other stars are Russian pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva, Swedish heptathlete Carolina Kluft, who seeks her sixth major title in a row since a 2002 European gold, Croatian high jump ace Blanka Vlasic, and China's 110m hurdles world record holder Liu Xiang who wants to do well one year ahead of his home Olympics in Beijing.

The expected heat and humidity has prompted the IAAF to publish a special health advisory for athletes and should give African runners an additional bonus over the long distances.

Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba aims for a second straight 5,000m and 10,000m double, compatriot Kenenisa Bekele for a third 10,000m gold in a row, while the Kenyan rivals should win the steeplechase in the injury-related absence of Qatar's 2003 and 2005 winner Saif Saeed Shaheen.

Hosts Japan, meanwhile, set their hopes in hammer throw Olympic champion Koji Murofushi, who wants to complete his medal collection at the worlds after 2001 silver and 2003 bronze.

The only home gold in 1991 came from Hiromi Tamiguchi in the marathon, and this time around the Japanese men and women in the classic 42.195km race also aim for the podium.

Others will be making records by simply competing in Osaka, with defending German discus throw champion Franka Dietzsch among several athletes in their ninth worlds, most of whom having entered the global stage in Tokyo 1991.

There is also seemingly ageless sprinter Merlene Ottey, the Jamaican who now competes for Slovenia and at 47 is to become the oldest competitor at the worlds. Ottey is also the only athlete who was present at the inaugural championships in 1983.