ON THE track where he suffered his only defeat over the distance last season, in the Olympic final, Asafa Powell broke the 100 metres world record last night. In so doing he took the record away from Tim Montgomery before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rules whether he should have lost it anyway. Powell, a 6ft 4in Jamaican, took advantage of ideal sprinting conditions in the Athens Olympic stadium to record 9.77sec.

Powell was unable to launch himself immediately into an unreserved celebration because he was not sure what to celebrate. The trackside clock showed 9.78sec, equal to Montgomery’s mark, set in 2002, but, after his semi-final time had been rounded down by officials from 9.99 to 9.98, he had reason to hope. Sure enough, some five minutes later, his time was announced as the fastest legitimate run in history.

After failing to reach the semi-finals of the 2003 World Championships in Paris, Powell put together an impressive string of races leading up to the Olympics last summer, including the fastest time seen on British soil, winning the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace in 9.91. Quietly spoken, and with none of the showmanship of world record-holders before him, such as Maurice Greene, Powell has come of age at 22.

In Paris he was the “other” man in the controversial quarter-final incident in which Jon Drummond, of the United States, laid down in protest on the track after his disqualification for a false start. Powell, too, was disqualified for beating the gun but took his dismissal with relative equanimity. Twelve months later, in the Olympics, he buckled under the strain of being the favourite, finishing fifth.

Powell was not the quickest away last night but he was clearly ahead even before he had uncoiled his frame into the upright position. For the last 70 metres, it was only Powell against the clock as he went on to win by two metres. All he had to do then was wait for technology to take over, for the photograph that would match his torso crossing the line with a printout of his finishing time. “Nothing makes up for the Olympics but this shows the world I could have done it,” Powell said.

Almost a year on from the Olympics, the local appetite for athletics has been lost. There were so few spectators in the stadium that they could hardly be described as a crowd. But everything else was in place: the air was warm, the tailwind of 1.6 metres per second legal and the track quick. Powell’s was the second 100 metres world record in the stadium, Greene having recorded 9.79 there in 1999.

That the track was conducive to fast times was underlined when four men broke 9.90 in the Olympic final. Sensing that the time and place were right for him now, and knowing he was in form — he ran 9.85 in rainy Ostrava last Thursday — Powell travelled to Athens early to train in the stadium.

Assuming that Powell passes the mandatory drugs test, the inclusion of his name in the world-record books, at the expense of Montgomery’s, will be welcomed by the hierarchy at the IAAF, which is weary of sprinting’s doping image. Montgomery, of the US, appeared before the CAS last week in connection with alleged drugs violations.

The result of the hearing is due any day and, if found guilty, Montgomery’s 9.78 would be expunged. He is facing a life ban after the United States Anti-Doping Agency accused him of serious offences, although he has never failed a test and has publicly denied taking drugs. However, a newspaper has reported that Montgomery told a federal grand jury investigating the Balco affair that he had taken banned steroids.

While the Powell family has celebrated the sprinting successes of two brothers — Donovan Powell reached the final of the 1999 World Indoor Championships 60 metres — it has also had to mourn the death of two more. One was shot dead in 2002 and another died from natural causes the same year. As an athlete, Asafa, the youngest of six brothers, was a late developer. Five years ago, he was playing football and had never contested a 100 metres. “I was a centre forward, scoring plenty of goals,” he recalled.

Up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Powell’s interest in athletics was peripheral. He would watch the 100 metres because it was his brother’s event, but not much else. “I was interested in the 100 metres, but not in all track and field,” he said. “I was playing football then. It was not until 2001 that I got interested and started training.”

Powell’s laid-back attitude in interviews was apparent at Crystal Palace last year when, asked what he did to relax, he grinned and replied: “Jamaicans don’t have problems relaxing. It’s all easy life in Jamaica.” But, attempting to provide a serious answer, he added that he played the guitar and drums.