Justin Gatlin shatters 100m world record
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-05-13 10:16
World and Olympic champion Justin Gatlin broke the 100m world record with a
time of 9.76 seconds at an IAAF Super Tour meeting on Friday.
Justin Gatlin of the
U.S. poses after setting a new 100 metres world record at the Qatar Super
Grand Prix with a time of 9.76 seconds in Doha May 12, 2006.
[Reuters] |
The 24-year-old American beat the previous mark of 9.77 set by Jamaica’s
Asafa Powell in Athens in June last year to finish ahead of Nigeria’s Olusoji
Fasuba (9.84) and fellow-American Shawn Crawford (10.08), the Olympic 200 metres
champion.
“I am the best of the best because I am the Olympic champion, the world
champion and the world record-holder now,” Gatlin told newsmen.
“I thought I would do it and I kept my word. I am a man who likes challenges
and my acceleration today was phenomenal.”
Gatlin announced he had his sights set on the world record earlier this week
after clocking 9.95 seconds in his first outing of the season in Osaka last
Saturday.
He recorded the previous fastest time in the world this year, 9.85 seconds,
in the Doha semi-final. Gatlin and Powell, who also ran 9.95 in Kingston at the
weekend, are due to clash at a Grand Prix meeting in Gateshead, England, on June
11.
The pair last met on the track in London last July when Powell pulled up with
a groin problem that put paid to his season.
Gatlin said the world record could go again later in 2006. “The timings could
be further improved this year, probably in Europe,” said Gatlin, who dedicated
his record to God and his parents. Gatlin, who started off as hurdler, went on
to win six NCAA sprint titles before taking the US and world indoor 60m titles
in 2003.
In 2005, he won the world 100m title in Helsinki in 9.88 seconds by the
biggest margin (0.17) in the history of the championships. He also led an
American clean sweep in the 200, winning in 20.04 to become only the second man
after compatriot Maurice Greene to complete the double.
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