Paris, France – World record holder Usain Bolt handily beat rival Asafa Powell in their first face-off of the year while David Oliver came close to the World record in the 110m Hurdles to highlight the Meeting Areva in Paris, the ninth stop on the 14-meeting Samsung Diamond League series.
Bolt’s convincing victory in 9.84 clearly illustrated that despite questions about his fitness, the double World record holder is still very much the man to beat in the 100m.
Despite a mediocre start, Bolt was already a half step ahead by the midway point before extending his lead over Powell even further over the final 30 metres. His clocking – 0.02 shy of his co-world lead from Lausanne eight days ago – wasn’t as quick as was expected, but Bolt was satisfied.
“I had a good race, but my strength still isn’t at my normal level,” said Bolt, who knocked 0.01 from Powell’s meeting record set four years ago. “Now I’m flying home to work on my strength.”
Accepting defeat, Powell, the former World record holder, eased up over the final 10 metres to reach the line in 9.91. Yohan Blake, one of Bolt’s training partners, was third in 9.95, a 0.01 improvement on his career best.
