Asafa Missed a Golden Chance!

[Historian]

Today, we await with nervous anticipation the running of the finals of the 100-meter dash in Beijing. Part of our nervousness, no doubt, is tied to the question many are afraid to openly ask, "What if Asafa doesn't win the gold?"

The concern is not so much about Bolt, who we all expect to, under normal circumstances, win the 200-meter race (in addition, Bolt already has a global junior title). No, this concern is about a sprinter who has brought us joy for several years now, Asafa Powell, but who at the same time has nothing to show for his incredible successes beyond a pair of (lowly rated) Commonwealth Games gold medals!

But the truth is that, if it had not been for bad luck, Asafa Powell today would have long been the proud holder of a global championship (which, unlike a world record, cannot be ever taken away). Consider this question: What if Asafa Powell had not false started back in 2003 at the Paris IAAF World Championships? (Asafa's 10.02 in the heats was faster than Kim Collin's winning time, and in fact was the fastest time of all during the rounds of that men's 100-meter race at that IAAF meet in Paris.)

This question is probably not all that important now, but it is nevertheless one that often springs to my mind.

[Islandman]

While all of us hope that Asafa will mine some golden metal , I still think that whetever happens he will be remembered as one of the top 2 or 3 male sprinters in Jamaican history at the end of his career.

I think if he brings his "A" game he will win the 100m but unfortunately he hasn't done that at a big meet yet for some reason. Some will say its bad luck, others like myself will argue that it is at least partially mental. If you are as good as Asafa is and keep making critical mistakes when it matters most, it suggests that something is going wrong other than luck.

Maybe in the next 2 weeks he will make that elusive breakthrough.The perfect script would be for Asafa to win the 100m, Bolt the 200m and then gold in the 4x100m.