February 22, 2008	Friday	Safar 14, 1429

MELBOURNE, Feb 21: Jamaican world record holder Asafa Powell bounced back from a knee injury to cruise to victory in the 100 metres in 10.04 seconds at the Melbourne IAAF Track Classic here Thursday.

Powell, 25, put aside concerns over a cut left knee, which forced him out of last weekend’s Sydney track meet, to run his first competitive race of the year in the countdown to the Beijing Olympics in August.

He had a long warm-up session and went on to decimate a field that included fellow Jamaican Michael Frater and former Australian record holder Matt Shirvington.

Powell had the race at his mercy within 20 metres and never let up, with Frater a distant second in 10.25 and Shirvington third in 10.35.

Powell’s winning time was only one-hundredth of a second slower than the 10.03 he ran to win the Commonwealth title here two years ago. He holds the world record of 9.74, which he ran in Italy last September.

Powell also broke the 10-year-old meet record of 10.06 set by former Olympic and world champion Maurice Greene of the United States.

New Zealander Monique Williams claimed the women’s 200 metre title in 23.75 ahead of Jamaica’s Melaine Walker (23.80). —AFP