Athletics: Powell Down and Out

Asafa Powell's hopes of adding the world championship gold medal to the world record he set last month all but disappeared at the Norwich Union London grand prix here last night.

The Jamaican, 22, took only five strides in the final of the 100 metres before pulling up clutching his groin and then slumping to the track in agony as his great rival Justin Gatlin went on to win in the fastest time ever seen in Britain.

The American, who did not win a race in 2004 before becoming Olympic champion as Powell finished a disappointing fifth, was oblivious to what was happening behind him as he overhauled his team-mate Leonard Scott in the second half of the race.

To rub salt into Powell's already painful wound, Gatlin's time of 9.89sec was two-hundredths of a second quicker than Powell had run in this event a year ago.

This was the first time the two runners had met since Powell set the world record of 9.77 in Athens last month. The heats whetted the appetite of the sell-out 18,500 crowd as Powell won his comfortably in 10.02, Gatlin his in 10.01.

But it turned out to be a massive anticlimax as the groin problem that has troubled Powell since he broke the record let him down in a most unfortunate fashion.

"It's very serious and I'm not sure about the world champs," he admitted as he was led off the track to have a scan.

"I saw in my peripheral vision Asafa go backwards but I didn't know he was injured," said Gatlin, 23. "Knowing that the fastest man in the world was lining up with me pumped me up.

"The time was good and I have no problems looking forwards to the world championships now - it's going to be good, if not the best."

Britain's Jason Gardener finished fifth in 10.13, having clocked 10.09 in his heat, the fastest he has run for five years.

There was no doubt, though, who provided the most spectacular performance by a Briton. Tim Benjamin, a 23-year-old Welshman, finally achieved the breakthrough he had been threatening for several years when he beat the Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner to win the 400m.

In the process he improved by more than a quarter of a second to run 44.77. "I'm fed up with people saying I'm not world class and this shows I am up there with the best of them," he said.

"Britain needs medals and I hope I can be the one to do it. But just give me time."

Remarkably, Benjamin had started the season in hospital after suffering severe headaches and dizziness, although one tabloid newspaper had claimed he had been admitted with a stroke.

"The thing that annoyed me about it was my family read these stories and naturally got really worried," said Benjamin. "It upset me that my grandmother had to read it and rang my dad up asking, 'What's happening with Tim?' It was crazy."

It has become almost traditional at Britain's televised meetings for Yelena Isinbayeva to set a women's pole vault record. But the 23-year-old Russian surpassed herself last night by first clearing 4.96 metres and then becoming the first woman in history to vault the historical landmark of 5.00m.

They were the 16th and 17th world records of Isinbayeva's career and the sixth and seventh she has done in Britain. Each one has been worth $50,000 (£29,000) to her and there was a special five-figure bonus for clearing five metres.

Appropriately, Sergey Bubka, the first man to clear six metres, was in the stadium to see Isinbayeva achieve her historic performance.

Earlier, Trafford's Janine Whitlock had set the 39th UK record of her career when she cleared 4.47m.

The highest quality meeting to be staged in Europe so far this summer ended on a rousing note when Australia's Craig Mottram pushed world record holder Kenenisa Bekele all the way in the 5000m. The Ethiopian needed all his speed in the final 300m to hold off Mottram to win in 12min 55.55sec.