Asafa's first race back was in Lucerne, 10.30 3rd place

[spammer]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/powell-makes-modest-return-track-lucerne-211222725--spt.html

[ATK]

Does he still have his contract with Li-Ning or did he loose it like Adidas dropped Gay?

[shivfan]

Asafa looked real rusty in that race, and Sherone didn't look particularly good either.

Still, that's what you expect, when a sprinter comes back from a suspension....

[Dixon]

I can understand a 10.13, not a 10.30.

[har77]

I can understand a 10.13, not a 10.30.

I think a 10.30 after a year of insecurity, no racing, a lot of distractions, losing sponsorship,etc is much more what you would expect than am athlete running 9.9x in his first race after a period like that. His first 60 was allright, after that he ran out of steam. Clearly a case of race-rust. Body hasn't been really pushed for over a year and the man is 31...not 21...so it takes a while to get the routine back.

I'm more worried about his form; he already had the problem with his upper body slightly twisted/hanging to the left since his continuing groin injuries, but it seems worse now. That doesn't bode well for an injury free 2nd carreer if he gets up to speed.

For the rest; he looks well conditioned to me. Slightly overweight for this part of the season, but I don't think he and Donovan worked towards whatever peak there may be this season. It's just about getting into some routine with racing/training again.

I think we won't see those 9.7's and low 9.8's again, but the man can still be a consistant 9.9x runner and earn a decent living for the nest 2-3 years.

[Powell]

The times in Luzern were slow overall in all sprint events, and this race was run into headwind, so the performance wasn't as bad as it looks at first sight. In different conditions, with zero wind it could have been in the 10.1 territory, which wouldn't be half bad for first race after comeback.

[zues2014]

Tough year for Asafa. In addition to the year long uncertainty, he lost his sponsor as well as he parted with coach Francis who brought him fame/glory.

Read reports he is currently training in the US under the watchful eyes of his brother(former athlete) Donovan Powell.

[JRM]

The times in Luzern were slow overall in all sprint events, and this race was run into headwind, so the performance wasn't as bad as it looks at first sight. In different conditions, with zero wind it could have been in the 10.1 territory, which wouldn't be half bad for first race after comeback.

But Forte's times this season have been around mid-10.1 with 0 wind. How does it follow that Powell's time -- roughly 0.1s slower -- would be 10.1 as well?

[Dixon]

har77


I have lost all faith in the guy, if he's just going to be a lane filler, ok he has future.

[user4]

allot can happen to a short dasher in 9 years.