Asafa Powell has vowed to return to top flight and says he will prove his worth at next year's Olympic games. The world record holder, who went down to a stunning defeat by American Tyson Gay in the men's 100 metres final at the 11th IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan yesterday.
"It was very unfortunate, I made a big mistake and I'll be back for the Olympics," he said.Shocking loss
Powell said during the race he panicked and found himself on wobbly legs close to the end of the race. "I felt him coming on and I started to panic and that slowed me down," he confessed after his shocking loss. Powell added that a mishap at the start also contributed to his defeat. "I stumbled from the blocks and was leading near the end until I started to tighten up and I lost the race from there as Tyson ran past me."
Injuries early in the season were also a hindrance. "I would say that the injuries sort of threw me off a little bit as I did not get to run a couple of good races before this. I was ready coming into this competition but I made a couple of mistakes."
Gay, the fastest man in the world this year with 9.84 seconds, clocked 9.85 yesterday to bag gold as Powell, the early leader in the much-anticipated race, faded into a disappointing third. He was pipped for silver by his second cousin, Bahamian Derrick Atkins, who set a national record 9.91. Powell's bronze in 9.96 gave Jamaica its first medal at the championships.
Gay, beaten no fewer than five times by Powell last year, won the first and most important meeting of the two sprinters in 2007. Surprisingly, the American, a notoriously slow starter, reacted faster (0.143) to the gun than the usually more alert Powell (0.145) and at 50 metres, the winner was not in doubt. Gay was in full flight at 70 metres and streaked away to win the first half of what many believe will be a championships sprint double to equal the achievements of fellow Americans Maurice Greene at Seville in 1999 and Justin Gatlin at the 2005 championships in Helsinki.
