ZURICH, Aug 6: Jamaica's rising star Asafa Powell beat reigning Olympic champion Maurice Greene for the second time in eight days in a thrilling 100 metres race here at the Golden League meeting on Friday.

With the Athens Olympics opening next Friday, 21-year-old Powell underlined his intention to challenge the American for the gold medal as he held off Greene to win in a time of 9.93sec with Greene one hundredth of a second behind.

The times were impressive as the sprinters were running into a slight headwind. Justin Gatlin of the United States was a distant third in 10.06sec while reigning world champion Kim Collins was only seventh in 10.21sec. Powell also beat Greene in the London Super Grand Prix meeting last Friday. -AFP