DREAM CHASER?
Asafa Powell still eyeing Olympic medal, 100th sub-10 run
FORMER 100m World record holder Asafa Powell wants to finish his career on a high by completing 100 sub-10 clockings and a podium finish at the Olympic Games in the summer.
Powell currently sits on a record 97 sub-10 times and he is hoping to hit the magical mark before he retires.
“My biggest goal this year, apart from the Olympics, is getting my next three sub-10[s], and I want to seal that off. And definitely going to the Olympic Games and making it on the podium, that would be a big dream for me,” said Powell.
The Charlemont High School alumnus is the current World record holder over 100 metres with 9.09 seconds set in 2010 but he is yet to secure an individual Olympic medal, which he craves.
“The Olympics has been put off until this year because of the pandemic but the goal remains the same. It’s just another year and we, as athletes,know to prepare and get ourselves ready,” he explained.
Powell, who celebrated his 38th birthday last November, has a 100m personal best of 9.72 seconds established in 2008 and no one in the history of track and field — including his more illustrious countryman, Usain Bolt — has dipped below the 10-second barrier more.
Powell has 97 sub-10 times compared to Bolt’s 52, and Powell wants to leave his mark before he calls it a day on the track.
“As you can see, our era in track and field is passing, so I want to stamp my ground and leave and make the younger guys try and fill the shoes,” Powell explained.
With a new strain of COVID-19 surfacing across the world, in addition to second and third waves of the virus, there is every chance of further delays in the start of the athletics season.
“We are just going to learn to adjust to it and compete with no fans, nobody in the stadium. This is going to be the new norm,” said Powell.
“Europe is where we compete the most so if they are putting off track meets that means we will have to find other alternatives, maybe stay home and compete until the Olympics or whatever it is,” he added.
But just how long will the 2006 Commonwealth Games 100m champion continue to compete?
“The body will tell me; I am just going to keep going. I am not going to go [on] forever but definitely, I am a family man now, so I can’t be running and training forever.
“So after the three sub-10s and the Olympic Games then I will feel a lot more satisfied... then I will consider whether I go another year or just cut it off,” ended Powell.