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Powell feeling weight of expectations
Jamaican Asafa Powell who defeated Maurice Green admits he is feeling the pressure of winning the 100 metres at Athens.
Jamaican Asafa Powell admits he is feeling the pressure of being one of the favourites to win the 100 metres in the Athens Olympics as he prepares for the Zurich Golden League meeting on Friday.
Powell, 21, defeated Olympic champion Maurice Greene in London last Friday to underline his status as one of the athletes challenging for the blue riband event in Athens.
"There is a lot of pressure on me with everybody expecting me to win a gold medal in Athens but I just have to stay focused and not get nervous," said Powell.
Greene, world champion Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis, Portugal's Francis Obikwelu and Americans John Capel, Justin Gatlin and Coby Miller will all line up in an impressive 100 field in Zurich, the fourth Golden League competition and the last before the Olympics.
American Shaun Crawford, the fastest man in the world this year with a time of 9.88 set in June, will miss the event.
"Friday's race is like a little Olympic final with most of the fastest sprinters running, which will give a good idea of form before Athens," said Powell.
"To be honest, I think Maurice Greene and Shawn Crawford are the favourites for the gold medal."
Apart from the classy 100 field in Zurich, spectator interest should be piqued by the five athletes still in contention for the $1 million Golden League jackpot, which is shared among competitors who win each of their events in the six meetings.
Felix Sanchez will bid to extend his three-year unbeaten record in the 400 hurdles, while Sweden's triple jump world champion Christian Olsson, Olympic and discus thrower Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania, women's world high jump champion Hestrie Cloete of South Africa and Tonique Williams-Darling, who will run in the 400 metres, are the others still in the hunt.
Olsson heads to Zurich on the back of his first defeat since February 2003 when he was beaten by Romania's Marian Oprea in Stockholm last month.
Williams-Darling of the Bahamas expects Ana Guevara, who she beat in Rome to inflict the Mexican's first defeat since the 2001 World Championships, to be back to her best on Friday.
"I always ran my own race and that will be the same on Friday," she said. "Of course a little bit of competitive racing is always helpful. I expect Ana Guevara to be in better shape than in July."