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Powell gets faster at Diamond League comeback battle in Paris

Xinhua, July 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell lived up to his name here on Saturday, running the third fastest 100 meters of the year to win on 9.81 seconds at the Paris Diamond League meeting.

The former world record holder chopped 0.03 seconds off his previous season best for the title, beating local favorite Jimmy Vicaut to the second place as the Frenchman equaled the European record of 9.86.

Michael Rodgers of the United states was on the third place with a time of 9.99, missing a chance of narrowing down the deficit to his countryman and Diamond Race leader Justin Gatlin.

"It was a great race today," said Powell whose winning time is 0.07s off pace of Gatlin's world leading record of the season. "I worked on my start last week and it paid off."

The sprinter won Jamaica's trials a week ago on 9.84 to earn a spot for August's world championships in Beijing, while Usain Bolt, who pulled out the Paris meet at the last minute, skipped the national event.

It has been the first Diamond League meeting of Powell after walking out of the shades of a doping suspension.

He tested positive in 2013 and was banned last year by a Jamaican disciplinary panel, before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced it to six months.

Powell, who will also test form at next week's Lausanne DL meeting before the August 22-30 worlds, was satisfied with his run in Paris but saw room to improve further.

"It was a confidence booster before Lausanne, but I'm always confident," he said.

"At the end I got too excited and did not run that smooth," added the 4x100m relay winner in Beijing 2008 alongside with Bolt. "So that means I want to run faster in my next races."

The 32-year-old was just feeling good though time went by for seven years since he last set a world record.

"Now it is proved that I'm in my best shape maybe in last seven years or so. And remember, age is just a number," he said.

Powell was the first Jamaican having seized the limelight as he lowered the 100m mark to 9.77 in 2005 and then 9.74 in 2008 before being eclipsed by Bolt. Enditem