Asafa has his sights set on Bolt

Anthony Foster, Gleaner Writer

FORMER WORLD 100m record holder Asafa Powell said he would pay little attention to American Tyson Gay next track season as Usain Bolt is the man to beat.

Gay, the world sprint double champion, failed to make the final of the men's 100m at the Olympics this past summer. He had earlier run 9.77 to win at the US trials, but suffered a hamstring injury in the 200m, which kept him out of the Olympic half-lap event.

Despite those disappointments, Gay is listed among the greatest sprinters, having joined Bolt, Powell and Maurice Greene as the only men to run sub-9.8.

However, Powell does not seem concerned about his capabilities.

The man to beat

"I am not really focusing on Tyson right now; Usain is the man to beat. He is the one to go for," said Powell, who returned to the island on Monday.

"I am just looking forward to running against Usain again. Tyson Gay is a very good sprinter ... but it's just a different thing right now, we (Jamaicans) are taking it to another level," said Powell, who listed Michael Frater and Nesta Carter among others Jamaicans expected to shine next season.

Carter, Frater, Bolt and Powell combined to lead Jamaica to a 37.10 4x100m world record to win gold in Beijing.

Track and field pundits await an exciting 2009 season to see how fast Bolt can go.

Fast

Many believe Bolt has in him 9.5, and prompted The Gleaner to ask Powell how fast he could go.

"I definitely can go as fast as I want to ... but it's just the time and place to do it," he said.

"Anywhere Usain goes, I am going there with him, so just look forward to a wonderful season next year," promised Powell.

"The most important thing is for us to win. I am not going to win all the races, Usain is going to win some," he said.

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