Asafa Powell blew away the field to take victory over 100 metres in the IAAF Diamond League meeting at the Stade de France on Saturday night
Red hot: Jamaica's Asafa Powell celebrates after winning the men's 100m gold at the IAAF Diamond League in Paris on Saturday
Paris: Asafa Powell blew away the field to take victory over 100 metres in the IAAF Diamond League meeting at the Stade de France on Saturday night.
Red hot: Jamaica's Asafa Powell celebrates after winning the men's 100m gold at the IAAF Diamond League in Paris on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Powell, 32, is a previous 100m world-record holder and is the second fastest man of 2015, with only Justin Gatlin clocking a quicker time.
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An effort of 9.81 seconds in Paris was enough for Powell to beat the other eight sprinters, although Jimmy Vicaut's second place and joint-French record was a highlight for the home support.
Powell sat out of the sport for six months following a doping ban in 2013 but appears to be peaking for August's World Championships at just the right time.
With no solo Olympic medals to his name and only two bronzes from the 2007 and 2009 worlds, Powell will hope to address those shortcomings this summer with the 2016 Rio Olympics still an uncertainty.
"It was a confidence booster before Lausanne (next week's Diamond League meet)," he said after his win.
'I want to run faster'
"I'm always confident, it was a great race, I worked on my start last week and it paid off. At the end I got too excited and did not run that smooth, so that means I want to run faster in my next races.
"I have proved I'm in the best shape maybe in the last seven years — remember, age is just a number."
Orlando Ortega of Cuba clocked up a personal best of 12.94s to take the win in the men's 110m hurdles and beat Diamond League leader David Oliver into second place.
A strong field for the women's 100m was led home by double Olympic gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, with the Jamaican impressing with a time of 10.74. London 2012 Olympic champion Greg Rutherford remains the joint leader of the long jump.
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