Asafa Powell Beats The Clock, In Lieu Of Beating Usain Bolt

Asafa Powell, the 100-meter world record holder of the pre-Usain Bolt era, claimed the title of Fastest Man in the World, This Year, So Far by running a 9.78 yesterday in Lausanne, Switzerland. That beats the 9.79 that Tyson Gay ran in early June in Clermont, Florida, before Gay dropped off the circuit with a hip injury.

Bolt skipped the Swiss meet. His best time this year is a plodding 9.91, in a race in Rome in which he ran down Powell in the final 15 meters to win by 0.02. For reference, Carl Lewis ran a 9.92 in his retroactive world-record victory over Ben Johnson in Seoul in 1988.