Jamaica's Asafa Powell (second right) chased by US Travis Padgett (left) and fellow Jamaicans Michael Frater (second left) and Ainsley Waugh on his way to victory in the men's 100m final at the IAAF Grand Prix in Rieti, Italy. Powell won in 9.82 seconds. He had captured his heat in 9.77 seconds. – AP

MANY TRACK-and-field fans see running in the 9.7+ seconds range these days as slow or not worth talking about.

But, just three years ago, before Asafa Powell made running in the 9.7s look easy, anything under 10 seconds was considered stunning.

At last Sunday's Rieti IAAF Grand Prix meet in Italy, Powell stopped the clock at 9.77 in the semi-finals; three years ago that would have been the world record. He then returned, about two hours later, to run 9.82 in the final.

It was behind these perfor-mances that Powell, though failed to deliver on his world-record prediction, has been selected The Gleaner's Top Performer of the Week.

"My performance wasn't that bad," said Powell. "But I had a false start and that was a shame," he said.

Powell's training partner and fellow countryman Michael Frater ran his second sub-10 second time of the season and his career when he finished second in 9.98. Ronald Pognon of France was third in 10.10.

Before this, however, Powell managed 9.87 in rainy conditions at Gateshead, England, a week ago, then 9.72 at Lausanne, Switzerland, the second-fastest time of all time before a 9.83 performance in Brussels last Friday.