Compeed Golden Gala: 100 metres, great challenge

The return of Usain Bolt to the Rome Olympic Stadium will be in the spotlight of the media and the Rome crowd. The Jamaican sprinter, world record holder with 9”58, made his seasonal debut in Kingston where he clocked 9”82 and (after the 10”04 victory in Ostrava) will run his third race this season. He will take on Asafa Powell, four-time world record holder before the beginning of the Bolt-era (he ran his best time of 9.72 in Lausanne in 2008). Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre, the only white sprinter in history to dip under the 10 seconds barrier, and Kim Collins, star and symbol from St. Kitts and Nevis. Bolt broke seven world records: three in the 100 metres, two in the 200 metres and two with the 4×100 relay. He won three Olympic gold medal in Bejing and five world titles in Berlin and Daegu and two world silver medals in the 200 metres and in the 4×100 relay in Osaka 2007. Powell, who has always been one of the favourite athletes by the Rome crowd, won a Olympic gold medal and a World gold medal with the 4×100 relay, a silver and two bronze medals at the World Championships. Frenchman Lemaitre dominates sprint in Europe: he won three gold medals in Barcelona 2010 plus the 200 metres world bronze medal and the 4×100 silver in Daegu. Thirty-six year-old Kim Collins won his first medal at the 2003 World Championships in Paris St. Denis where he took an historic gold for his country starting from the first lane and backed up it with a bronze medal in Helsinki 2005. He returned from a partial retirement from competitions with two bronze medals in the 100 metres and the 4×100. He is a popular athlete in his country and in his honour a motorway in St. Kitts and Nevis was named after him. Tyson Gay set the Golden Gala record in the 2009 edition when he thrilled the crowd with a glittering 9”77. In the 100 metres clashes between these sprinters Bolt leads 10-1 over Powell and 3-1 over Lemaitre (the defeat of the Jamaican sprinter is due to his disqualification because of his false start at the World Championships in Daegu). Powell won all his four previous clashes against Lemaitre.

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