Asafa Powell

Asafa Powell

Asafa Powell at Rio 2016
Personal information
Nationality	Jamaican
Born	(1982-11-23) 23 November 1982 (age 34) Spanish Town, Jamaica
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	88 kg (194 lb; 13.9 st)
Sport
Sport	Track & Field
Event(s)	100 metres, 200 metres
Club	MVP Track & Field Club
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m: 09.72 s (Lausanne, 2008) 200 m: 19.90 s (Kingston, 2006) 400 m: 45.94 s (Sydney, 2009) 60 m: 6.44 s (Portland, 2016)
Medal record Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m relay Disqualified 2008 Beijing 4×100 m relay World Championships 2009 Berlin 4×100 m relay 2015 Beijing 4×100 m relay 2007 Osaka 4×100 m relay 2007 Osaka 100 m 2009 Berlin 100 m World Indoor Championships 2016 Portland 60 m Commonwealth Games 2006 Melbourne 100 m 2006 Melbourne 4×100 m relay 2002 Manchester 4×100 m relay

100 m: 09.72 s (Lausanne, 2008)
200 m: 19.90 s (Kingston, 2006)
400 m: 45.94 s (Sydney, 2009)

Asafa Powell, CD (born 23 November 1982) is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 metres world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of 9.72 s being the fifth fastest time in the history of the event. As of 1 September 2016, Powell has broken the ten-second barrier more times than anyone else – 97 times.

Powell competed in the 100 m at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics, finishing fifth in 2004 and 2008 and eighth after injuring his groin during the race in 2012. In 2008 he won a gold medal and set the world and Olympic records as part of the Jamaican 4 × 100 metres relay team. At the 2007 Osaka World Championships he won a bronze and a silver medal in the 100 m and 4 x 100 m relay respectively and he has been successful at the Commonwealth Games, winning two gold and one silver medal. At the 2009 World Championships he won 100 m bronze and a relay gold. Powell has won five times at the IAAF World Athletics Final and was formerly the 100 m world record holder for the event.

Powell had tested positive for the drug oxilofrine in 2013 and withdrew from the 2013 World Athletics Championships as a result. Powell and fellow Jamaican Sprinter, Sherone Simpson had taken the supplement Ephiphany D1 as part of their training regimen, not knowing it contained oxilofrine. It was later revealed that Acacia was substituted with oxilofrine, and not revealed by the manufacturer. The duo sued the company that sold the supplement, Dynamic Life Nutrition (DLN), in order to clear their names. Both Powell and Simpson reached an out of court settlement for an undisclosed amount in September 2015. After the settlement, Simpson released a statement stating: "Both Asafa and I are happy that we were able to settle this out of court." In April 2014, the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission announced that he would be suspended for 18 months over doping charges, expiring in December that year. However, after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the suspension was reduced to 6 months.