Asafa Powell on his way to victory in the men's 100 metres race at the Artur Takac Memorial meet in Belgrade on Tuesday. - Reuters

BELGRADE, Serbia (CMC):

JAMAICA'S 100-METRE world record holder, Asafa Powell, is expressing immense confidence about his fitness levels in this World Championship year. After his season-opening 100-metre victory in a world-leading 9.97 seconds at the Artur Takac Memorial on Tuesday night, Powell said his training has been intense and he is prepared to run very well this season.

An IAAF website story on Tuesday evening said Powell's next assignment this season would be a rare 200-metre appearance at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon on June 10, a decision the big sprinter said was made by his coach, Stephen Francis.

"If it was up to me, I'd stick with more 100s. But I can run a fast 200," he said.

Training harder

Powell said that he has been training harder than he has ever trained before, and added, with a wide grin, "I could run the 400 right now the way I've been training."

Powell's run Tuesday night was the fastest time recorded for 100 metres in Serbia, and also erased, the previous world-leading time of 9.98 seconds by Bahamian Derrick Atkins.

Although he has thrice run his world record 9.77 seconds - Athens June 2005, Gateshead June 2006 and Zurich August 2006 - and is unquestionably the world's best, he needs a major champion-ship title for his résumé.

He knows that his career will be defined by World Champion-ship and Olympic success, and the 11th IAAF World Champion-ship in Osaka, Japan, from August 24 to September 2 this year is a pivotal meet for him.