Athens: Jamaica’s Asafa Powell broke the 100 metres world record on Tuesday running 9.77 seconds.

The 22-year-old’s mark eclipses the old time of 9.78sec set by Tim Montgomery in Paris in 2002. Powell blew away from the blocks and was never threatened as he finished metres ahead of his closest rival. Ironically, the same meeting produced a world record in the same event in June 16, 1999 when Maurice Greene set the mark with a time of 9.79. “I am very happy that in my second appearance here in Greece I achieved this performance. It is amazing that after Greene, I also achieved a world record in this stadium,” he said. — AFP