Powell Strolls to 100m Gold

World record holder Asafa Powell easily took gold in the men’s 100m final. After bursting clear of the field 20m in, he eased down a good 30m before the line to stroll into first place in 10.03 seconds.

It was his first medal at a major championships, having finished fifth in the Olympic final in Athens in 2004. Injury prevented him from competing at last year’s world championships in Helsinki.

But there was never any doubt about the result here after he breezed through the opening rounds without getting out of second gear.

Nigeria’s Soji Fasuba and Marc Burns of Trinidad and Tobago collected silver and bronze with times of 10.11 and 10.17 respectively.

England’s Marlon Devonish looked well off the pace as he came home in eighth. Mark Lewis-Francis was disqualified in the semi-final for a false start and has called for a change in the rules.

Jamaica’s Michael Frater had already been disqualified for jumping the gun when the Birmingham man was sent packing. The drama was sparked by an initial false start by Australian Patrick Johnson. Under IAAF rules, that meant any other sprinter committing a false start would be instantly disqualified.

Lewis-Francis feels that puts too much unfair pressure on the athletes. "It (the rule) doesn’t make any sense. It cost me my championship at the end of the day.

"The first false start was ridiculous, there was no need for it. That sets off a trigger and everyone else starts doing it. I think the rule should be changed but my mouth isn’t powerful enough to get it changed."