Brussels, Belgium - For the first time ever, the worlds three pre-eminent sprinters Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, will meet in the same 100m race when the Belgacom Memorial Van Damme meeting, the finale of the ÅF Golden League 2008, takes place in the Belgian capital on Friday 5 September 2008.

The Brussels dash is literally the premier encounter between the premier sprinters of our time.

Sadly, in his own words, Gay is looking forward to it but I'm not a 100% yet. The American is still nursing a hamstring injury sustained in the 200m at the US Olympic Trials.

By contrast the two Jamaicans continued to be in sparkling form in the days since the Beijing Olympic Games. Bolt has run 9.83 in Zürich and 19.63 for the 200m last night in Lausanne (2), while Powell slid his way to an astonishing 9.87 victory in horrendously wet conditions in Gateshead on Sunday (31 Aug), and backed that up with a PB 9.72 dash in Lausanne, equalling the second fastest time ever run.

Yet whatever the fitness or form of our triumvirate, Brussels King Baudouin Stadium on Friday will witness an historic sprinting moment.

The newly crowned Olympic champion Usain Bolt has only ever once met World champion Tyson Gay at the 100m distance, the Jamaican beginning his current period of ascendancy with a 9.72 World record in New York on 31 May, ahead of a stunned Gay, who ran 9.85.

With the American champion not making it through to the final in Beijing, the New York encounter remains their only 100m clash. At 200m, the balance remains in Gays favour, the World champion having headed the Beijing winner in six of their eight meetings at the longer sprint.

Bolt, a newcomer to the 100m this season having only raced the dash once prior to the start of this year, has met the former World record holder Powell on just three occasions in their careers. The win-loss gauge is 2 to 1 in favour of Bolt, with Powell having taken a narrow victory in Stockholm just prior to Beijing when, the soon to be crowned Olympic champion, absolutely slept in his blocks. The two have never met over the 200m.

When the head to head battles between World 100m and 200m champion Gay and Powell are scrutinised, overlooking Gays aforementioned absence from the Olympic final, then the Jamaican has a 5 to 1 victory credit over the American. As with Bolt, Powell has never raced Gay over 200m




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