Asafa Powell was going to be an electrical engineer before he decided to start running. His elder brother Donovan was a 100 m semi-finalist in the 1999 world championships. Unlike many of his compatriots, Powell decided against moving to the USA to further his career and continues to train in Kingston, Jamaica where he often runs on grass wearing "flats" (non spiked running shoes).Powell first came to the attention of the athletics world at the 2003 world championships when he suffered the ignominy of being the 'other' athlete disqualified for a false start in the semi-final where Jon Drummond memorably refused to leave the track having suffered the same fate (Drummond was later proved to have not false started).The following season Powell was one of the gold medal favorites for 2004 Olympic 100 m, after clocking sub-10 second times a record-equaling 9 times in a season. However, Powell finished a disappointing fifth in the Athens final.The following year, he gained some consolation by breaking the 100 m world record, in Athens on June 14, 2005, setting a time of 9.77 s. This beat American Tim Montgomery's 2002 record of 9.78 s (which was later annulled due to BALCO doping allegations against Montgomery) by just one one-hundredth of a second. Coincidentally, Powell achieved the feat on the same track as Maurice Greene's 1999 world record of 9.79 s. Wind assistance for Powell was measured at 1.6 m/s - a gentle breeze - within the IAAF legal limit of 2.0 m/s.Asafa won the 2006 Commonwealth Games title easily but had to get through a drama-filled semi-final which saw two disqualifications, three false starts and Powell himself running into another competitor's lane while looking at the scoreboard (he was held not to have impeded the other runner).Powell's world record appeared to be broken on May 12, 2006 by Justin Gatlin's mark of 9.76 s +1.7m/s wind. However, according to IAAF rules, his unofficial time of 9.7660 should have been rounded to an official time of 9.77, not 9.76. Gatlin and Powell currently share the record of 9.77 seconds.Powell then equalled his world record time on June 11, 2006 at Gateshead International Stadium (the very precise time was 9.7629 +1.5m/s wind, rounded up to 9.77). August 18 2006, Powell ran the world record time of 9.77 +1.0m/s wind for the third time in Zurich, Switzerland. Together with Jeremy Wariner (400 m) and Sanya Richards (400 m) he won his sixth out of six Golden League events (100 m) in the same season, which earned him a total of $250,000. On November 12 2006 he was awarded the title of 2006 Male World Athlete of the Year along with a cheque for $100,000.To date Powell has legally run under 10 seconds 25 times. Only Frankie Fredericks (27), Ato Boldon (28) and Maurice Greene (52) have more sub 10 times to their name. Powell is the only man to have run legally under 9.80 seconds three times, and is the only man to have run legally under 10.00 seconds 12 times in a season.In 2005 the IAAF ranked him as the #1 male athlete in the world, but Powell also has another title - “The Worlds Fastest Human.†He is the 6th son of two country pastors from Jamaica who both claim that he gets the talent from them.The 23-year-old has only been on the international circuit for three full seasons and has already broke a world record. Powell was a favorite to win the 100m at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, but after a disappointing performance he placed 5th. The next year he came back to that same stadium for the Super Grand Prix Tsikiltra where he proved his dominance by breaking the 100m world record with a time of 9.77s in a race he describes as far from perfect. This humble athlete has come out from the shadows, leaving experts to reconsider the limits of human potential.In 2006 his times are getting progressively faster and he has ran below 10.00 four times already this year. At the Norwich Union British Grand Prix on June 11 he equaled his World Record time of 9.77 on a track where the best time ever ran was only 10.05s.Powell still resides and trains in Kingston, Jamaica with his fellow Jamaican teammates. He is anxiously awaiting the beginning of the 2006 season after 2005 was cut short due to an injury.
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