Jamaica's Asafa Powell, a hot favourite for a medal in the men's 100 metres, ran his worst race of the 2004 Olympic Games last night to finish fifth in the final at the Athens Olympic Stadium.
By Elton TuckerIt was, however, one of the greatest Olympic 100m finals ever. For the first time, all three medallists and the fourth-place finisher, went below 9.90 seconds.
Powell clocked 9.94 for fifth. The top five in an Olympic final had never gone below 10 seconds before.
Gold medal winner, 22-year-old American Justin Gatlin, hit the line at a personal best of 9.85; Portugal's Francis Obikwelu, a former world junior champion while running for Nigeria, silver, in a European record 9.86 and defending champion Maurice Greene of the United States, bronze, in a season-best 9.87. Shawn Crawford was fourth in 9.87.
Powell came out very flat and was never a factor for a medal. He said later that he had stumbled in his blocks.
"I was so anxious to catch the field that I came up a little too early and it was all over by then."
FIRST OLYMPICS
He added: "This is my first Olympics and I am young so I will be back."
Powell will run next in the heats of the 200 metres starting tomorrow. Earlier, Powell had won his semi-final in 9.95, beating Obikwelu and Greene. Crawford took semi-final one in 10.07 ahead of Gatlin, 10:22.
Jamaica's other semi-finalists, Michael Frater was sixth (10.29) in semi-final one, and Dwight Thomas, seventh (10.28) in semi-final two and did not advance.
