Jamaican Sprinter’s Dash to Glory

Asafa Powell didn’t pay much attention to the Sydney Olympics.

He was moderately curious about the outcome of the men’s 100-meter dash, mainly because one of his five brothers had been a sprinter on the Jamaican junior national team, but he otherwise paid little attention to the Summer Games. He was too busy being 17 and indulging his passion for soccer, which he played at Charlemont High School in St. Catherine, Jamaica.

Powell occasionally competed in sprint races, but that was to pass the time until he could play soccer again. His ultimate goal was to be an electrical engineer, and he made plans to enroll at the University of Technology in Kingston.

All that changed in 2001 at a sports festival staged by his school. “A teacher saw me run and brought me inside and said, ‘Asafa, do you know you have potential to run fast?’ ” he recalled this week.

“I laughed, but I started training myself and I went to the boys’ championships in Jamaica. A coach saw me there and saw I had potential and picked me up and trained me, and here I am.”

The “here” is the men’s 100 meters competition at the Athens Games, which begins today. And despite his relatively late start as a serious runner, Powell’s impressive results this summer have stamped him as a strong medal contender -- perhaps even the favorite in the marquee event that confers the mythical title of world’s fastest man.

If Powell feels any pressure, he appears to hide it well. The youngest child of two pastors, he speaks softly and politely. He likes to listen to reggae music and plays in his church band. His track idol is Linford Christie, the British sprinter who won the 1992 Olympic and 1993 world titles at 100 meters, and Powell said it would be “a privilege” to win an Olympic medal.

Perhaps his innate calm is the reason he’s not overwhelmed by the Olympics, even though he has been on the international track circuit for only two years and his resume is relatively thin.

“I’m not nervous,” he said during a news conference with fellow sprinters Justin Gatlin and Shawn Crawford of the U.S., Mark Lewis-Francis of Britain and Francis Obikwelu of Portugal, who have won more than half a dozen world medals among them.

“I’m focused. This is my first Olympics, and I’m up there with these guys just hoping to get a medal. I don’t mind going out there as the favorite.”

The lanky, 6-foot-3, 194-pounder began to gain attention last year. He won a Golden League 100-meter title in Brussels in 10.02 seconds, a Grand Prix event in Italy in 10.12 and finished seventh at the World Athletics Final in Monaco. He also had the fastest qualifying time entering the quarterfinals at last year’s world championships, but he and U.S. sprinter Jon Drummond were disqualified for false starts. Powell left the track quietly, but Drummond flung himself onto his back on the track and refused to move for several minutes.

It’s a moment Powell would just as soon forget.

“Last year in Paris I had a very disappointing incident,” he said. “I’m trying to put it behind me and trying to show the world what I could have done in Paris, and that’s to be on top of the world.”

He missed the world indoor championships this winter because of a groin injury, but he has had a splendid outdoor season highlighted by several significant victories.

Powell has clocked four of the 12 sub-10 second times in the world this year; only Sydney gold medalist Maurice Greene has run more sub-10s, with five. Crawford has three -- including the world-leading 9.88 he ran at the Prefontaine Classic in June -- and Gatlin has two.

However, Powell defeated Greene at the Norwich Union Grand Prix meet in London on July 30, running 9.91 -- the fastest time on British soil -- to 9.97 for Greene. A week later at Zurich, Powell repeated that feat with a 9.93, edging Greene (9.94) and earning Greene’s respect.

“To beat Asafa, I need a complete race,” Greene said.

Powell has clearly become someone to watch -- even if he’s usually just a blur.

“Beating Maurice Greene has built my confidence a lot,” Powell said. “I’ve been training for the rounds, so I don’t think [stamina] is going to be a problem for me right now. I’m just going to try and take it real easy throughout the rounds, as easy as possible....

“I just want to do my best, and if I do that I’ll come out with a medal.”