Asafa Powell - File

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CMC):

Jamaican sprint world leaders Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson copped the 100-metre races at the Van Damme Memorial Golden League track and field meeting yesterday.

World record holder Powell stayed in contention for the US$1 million jackpot by winning the men's 100 metres in 9.99 seconds in spite of an awful start, and Simpson clocked 10.95 seconds to land the women's 100 metres.

The 23-year-old Powell was very slow out of the blocks but demonstrated his class by motoring down the stretch to win ahead American Marcus Brunson, who ran a relatively close second in 10.06 seconds. Leonard Scott, also of the U.S.A, was third in 10.11.

The winning time was disappointing for Powell as he had been eyeing the world record, but the triumph gave him a fifth consecutive win in the Golden League Series and guaranteed him a share of the US$500,000 jackpot allotted to winners of five races in the series.

The big Jamaican, who has run the world record 9.77 seconds three times - Athens last year June, London this year June and Zurich last month - in the past 14 months, won the previous Golden League events in Oslo, Paris, Rome, and Zurich.

Jackpot

He will collect a share of the US$1 million jackpot if he wins at the final event in Berlin on September 3.

In yesterday's 100-metre run, Trinidad and Tobago's Marc Burns finished fifth in 10.16 seconds.

Meanwhile, Simpson logged her fourth sub-11 clocking in a month when she executed a near-perfect race and outran the Americans Me'Lisa Barber (11.10) and Stephanie Durst (11.18) in the women's 100 metres for her third Golden League win in a row.

Simpson's effort was her third quickest this year after a world-leading 10.82 at the Jamaica Nationals and 10.87 at the Rome Golden League.

Bahamian Debbie Ferguson was fourth in 11.24 seconds and Cydonie Mothersill, of the Cayman Islands, placed seventh in 11.41 seconds.

Ferguson and the Jamaicans Novlene Williams and Brigitte Foster-Hylton secured top-3 results at the meet.

Ferguson ran 22.93 for second in the 200 metres behind Belgian European champion Kim Gevaert (22.68).

Williams was also second, clocking 51.02 behind American series leader Sanya Richards, who - like Powell - stayed unbeaten with a 50.02 victory.

Jamaican 2005 National Champion Shericka Williams placed fifth in 51.35 seconds.

Rebounded

Foster-Hylton rebounded from her dismal eighth place finish at the Monaco Super Grand Prix on Tuesday by taking second in the women's 100-metre hurdles in 12.71 seconds, chasing American Michelle Perry (12.55).

Foster-Hylton, who won the first Golden League event this season in Oslo, has not been out of the Top-3 frame in any Golden League event this season.

Americans Tyson Gay (19.79), Xavier Carter (19.97) and Wallace Spearmon (20.47) swept the top three spots in the men's 200 metres that saw Jamaica's Commonwealth Games champion Omar Brown placing sixth in 20.47, the identical time that brought him gold in Melbourne five months ago.

American Jeremy Wariner clocked 44.29 seconds to win the men's 400 metres with Grenada's Alleyne Francique (45.58) and Jamaican Michael Blackwood (45.61) seventh and eighth, respectively.

Morocco's Hasna Benhassi clocked 1:59.06 seconds to capture the women's 800 metres ahead of Kenya's Commonwealth champion Janeth Jepkosgei (1:59.65), with Jamaican Kenia Sinclair fourth in 1:59.74.

Another highlight of the meet was a 4x800-metre world record by Kenya as World Indoor champion Wilfred Bungei completed the run for the team in a superb 7:02.43, surpassing the 1982 mark of 7:03.89 set by a British team consisting of Peter Elliott, Gary Cook and the legendary duo Steve Cram and Sebastian Coe.