Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

Asafa Powell

MIAMI:

IN AN attempt to win his first global title, the Olympic Games' 100 metres, Asafa Powell is expected to take part of his preseason training outside of Jamaica early next season. Paul Doyle, who manages Powell and a few other members of the MVP Group, confirmed that the University of Technology-based track group would travel to Melbourne, Australia, for a training camp.

"Yes, we are going to go there for two competitions in Sydney and Melbourne," Doyle said, comfirming an article in The Age newspaper.

Meets

The meets, according to Doyle, will be on February 16 in Sydney and February 21 in Melbourne. The group will depart Jamaica on February 6 or 7.

"We will just have a training camp and do the meets before returning home," Doyle said. In his first attempt at a world title, at the Athens Olympics in 2004, Powell, who started the final as the favourite, finished fifth behind winner Justin Gatlin of the United States.

Again at this year's Osaka World Championships, Powell, who led for the first half of the 100m final, panicked towards the end before ending up in third place behind American Tyson Gay and Bahamian Derrick Atkins. However, a week after the World Championships, just like he did in 2004 by running a then world record of 9.77 seconds, Powell shaved three hundredths of a second of that mark - lowering it to 9.74, making him the first man to run five sub-9.8 seconds.

Despite his records, the Common-wealth Games title remains the one individual crown of note the 25-year-old Powell has won.

The MVP Group includes other high-profile athletes such as World Championships 100m hurdles silver and bronze medallist Brigitte Foster-Hylton, World Championships 100m silver medallist Michael Frater, Commonwealth Games 200m champion Sherone Simpson, Great Britain high jumper Germaine Mason, who previously competed for Jamaica, former national 400m champion Shericka Williams and Trinidad and Tobago's Darrell Brown.