LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Asafa Powell has thrown down the gauntlet to world sprinting rivals including Jamaican compatriot Usain Bolt by running the fastest 100m of the season.

Powell clocked a rapid 9.78 seconds at Thursday's Diamond League meeting here, dipping under 9.8 sec for the blue ribbon event for the eighth time in his career.

Only double sprint world and Olympic champion Bolt (five times with a world record best of 9.58) and American Tyson Gay (five times with a best of 9.69) have run faster, while another Jamaican, Nesta Carter, has also managed to time 9.78sec once in his career.