Powell suffers injury, Gay eyes record

YOKOHAMA – World 100m record holder Asafa Powell limped out of a 200m race here Sunday, as his US rival Tyson Gay cruised to a 100m victory with a new resolve to break the Jamaican’s record.

Powell, who set a new 100m world record of 9.74 seconds in Italy earlier this month, appeared strong during the initial seconds of the Yokohama race despite cold rain. But he stopped suddenly, leaving American sprinter JJ Johnson to take the race with 20.64, followed by Canadian Tyler Christopher and Japanese Hitoshi Saito.Powell, who also ran a 200m race in Shanghai on Friday, said in a Japanese-language statement that he was going too fast and the weather was cold.At the Shanghai competition, Powell complained that he was “not allowed” to face arch-rival Gay in a rematch of their world championship final.The Jamaican blitzed the Shanghai track in 20 seconds flat, just shy of his personal best.The Yokohama competition also ended in disappointment for Powell last year, when he was disqualified after making a second false start in the 100m race.He was again thwarted in the Osaka world championships in August as Gay put in a stellar performance, but he went on to set the new men’s 100m world record in Italy earlier this month.Gay, a triple sprint champion in Osaka, said he would focus next year on outdoor competitions in an effort to break the world record, after comfortably winning the 100m race in Yokohama in 10.23 seconds in wind and rain.Bershawn Jackson of the United States, 2005 world champion, won the 400m hurdles, clocking in at 49.80sec, ahead of Kenji Narisako of Japan and Mahau Sugimachi of Brazil.The three medalists from the Osaka championship dominated the men’s hammer throw.Ivan Tsikhan of Belarus, the Osaka gold medallist, won with 77.55m, followed by Libor Charfreitag of Slovakia and Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia, bronze and silver medallists from Osaka.In the women’s field, American 400m sprinter Sanya Richards overwhelmed the competition to win at 50.27sec, compared with second-place Christine Amertil of the Bahamas with 52.32, and Japanese Asami Tanno’s 52.94.Champion long jumper Tatiana Lebedeva of Russia recorded 6.63m, brushing aside challenges from local favorite Kumiko Ikeda with 6.41m and fellow Russian jumper Tatiana Kotova who marked 6.40m.Nampa-AFPBut he stopped suddenly, leaving American sprinter JJ Johnson to take the race with 20.64, followed by Canadian Tyler Christopher and Japanese Hitoshi Saito.Powell, who also ran a 200m race in Shanghai on Friday, said in a Japanese-language statement that he was going too fast and the weather was cold.At the Shanghai competition, Powell complained that he was “not allowed” to face arch-rival Gay in a rematch of their world championship final.The Jamaican blitzed the Shanghai track in 20 seconds flat, just shy of his personal best.The Yokohama competition also ended in disappointment for Powell last year, when he was disqualified after making a second false start in the 100m race.He was again thwarted in the Osaka world championships in August as Gay put in a stellar performance, but he went on to set the new men’s 100m world record in Italy earlier this month.Gay, a triple sprint champion in Osaka, said he would focus next year on outdoor competitions in an effort to break the world record, after comfortably winning the 100m race in Yokohama in 10.23 seconds in wind and rain.Bershawn Jackson of the United States, 2005 world champion, won the 400m hurdles, clocking in at 49.80sec, ahead of Kenji Narisako of Japan and Mahau Sugimachi of Brazil.The three medalists from the Osaka championship dominated the men’s hammer throw.Ivan Tsikhan of Belarus, the Osaka gold medallist, won with 77.55m, followed by Libor Charfreitag of Slovakia and Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia, bronze and silver medallists from Osaka.In the women’s field, American 400m sprinter Sanya Richards overwhelmed the competition to win at 50.27sec, compared with second-place Christine Amertil of the Bahamas with 52.32, and Japanese Asami Tanno’s 52.94.Champion long jumper Tatiana Lebedeva of Russia recorded 6.63m, brushing aside challenges from local favorite Kumiko Ikeda with 6.41m and fellow Russian jumper Tatiana Kotova who marked 6.40m.Nampa-AFP