Another BRONZE for Asafa Powell?

Photo: Asafa Powell will have to prove his new mental toughness if he is to win gold at the World Championships in Beijing, China.

Asafa Powell is no doubt the favourite athlete of Jamaican track and field fans at home. The reaction that he receives inside the National Stadium, especially from the women, is like no other. His rippling washboard abs, bulging biceps, massive thighs and legs, when coated with layers of sweat has the ladies, young and old in a tizzy every time he runs.

Despite the achievements of the likes of Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser –Pryce, the ‘Sub-10 King’ who is yet to win a global title, leads the polls as the fan favourite.

But that is where the fun ends for Powell. The 32 year old has never won a gold medal at the World Championships or Olympic Games and the pressure will be for him to do so at the 15th IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China which begins on Friday night (local time).

Powell will almost certainly have to get the better of teammate and defending champion Usain Bolt and the current world leader and the world’s fastest man for the last two years, Justin Gatlin. Powell, the former world record holder, has never been able to get the better of those two adversaries at a major event and will have to run the race of his life if he is to finally claim gold.

His best individual performances at the World Championships came back in 2007 and 2009 when he won bronze on both occasions.

Older, wiser and fit for the first time in a long time, Powell is confident that he can finally win gold. After finishing first at the National Trials in June, the man with the fifth fastest time ever of 9.72s made a very bold and clear statement: “I am not going there (China) for a bronze or silver medal. I am going there for gold.”

A lot of attention has been paid to the end of his race this season, as his poor finish has cost him on more than one occasion. His brother and coach, Donovan, a former national representative, is just as confident of the chances of Asafa who he relishes coaching.

The two time world championship bronze medalist has been named male team captain and as such will be looking to lead by example, as the nation’s athletes kick start their campaign in the Chinese capital.

Powell is ranked second in the 100m with a time of 9.81 seconds, trailing American Justin Gatlin, who has gone sub 9.8 four times this season, with a season best of 9.74 seconds.

Defending champion, Usain Bolt, has a season’s best of 9.87 seconds, way outside his world record of 9.58s and with whispers of niggling hip and back injuries, a lot of fans are anxious and some worried about his chances of creating history in China.

A few pundits have relegated Powell’s campaign at the championship, to a mere chase of the bronze medal, where he will battle other tough oppositions with the likes of Canadian young sensation, Andre De Grasse, USA’s Trayvon Brommell and former world champion Tyson Gay for the minor placing.

For Powell however, the race will be less against his opponents and more against himself as he tries to prove that mentally he is a different person, a person deserved of that elusive gold medal.