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Jamaican sprint legend Asafa Powell has revealed why Jamaica has found the going tough in men's sprints.
Jamaican sprint legend Asafa Powell has revealed why Jamaica has struggled to replace Usain Bolt while their rivals USA have enjoyed recent dominance in sprints.
Bolt had a historic year in 2009, setting the fastest times in history in both the 100 and 200 meters, running a 9.58 at the short race and 19.19 in the longer version, and those records have never been broken since.
In so doing, Bolt broke one of the records set by his compatriot Powell in September 2008, when he ran a 9.71 in the 100, and Michael Johnson’s 19.31 seconds set in 1996 in the 200m
In a recent interview, Powel has now revealed that Bolt could have ran even faster, claiming he was capable of completing the race in under 19 seconds.
He also believes that the 200m record stands a better chance of being broken sooner than the 100m one.
“I think the 100m world record will take a long, long time before it is broken, but the 200m is possible,” Powell told Athletics Weekly.
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Powell, who has previously held the world 100m record two times, was part of the team that delivered OIympic relay gold in 2016, but was not in the record-breaking 2012 one due to a groin injury.
“I think Usain could have gone a bit faster. If he could go back, I think he could have run it in 18 seconds and then it would have been similar to the 9.58.
“If you calculate (using his speed from the 100m), I think he could have gone 19.0. For sure, the 200m is the easiest challenge but the 100m? No.”
Meanwhile, Powell has revealed what Jamaica needs to do in order to return to the heights of challenging for major honours at big athletics championships in the men’s category, having failed to medal in a major outdoor event since Usain Bolt’s bronze at the 2017 London World Championships.
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Gatlin has revealed the aspect about his racing he worked on after failing to beat an 'off form' Bolt at the 2015 World Championships to finally beat him in 2017.
“I think we just need time. We need time for the younger ones because we just retired all of a sudden. We did not wait for anyone to come over. We just have to wait.”
Powell has revealed the key thing the United States have mastered that Jamaica has not, which could have contributed to their dry spell.
“Back in the US, they build sprinters every day. In Jamaica we (also) build sprinters but that transition (is what we lack). I think it takes a bit longer for us.”
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