Running News Daily

Asafa Powell opens up on the darkest moments of his career and how he managed to overcome them

The Jamaican sprint great has opened up on two dark moments in his career and how he managed to overcome those setbacks.

Jamaican sprint great Asafa Powell has opened up on how he dealt with the lowest moments of his career as an athlete.

Powell, a specialist in the 100 meters, set the world record twice with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds and has broken the 10-second barrier more than anyone else, doing so 97 times.

He also holds the world record for the 100-yard dash at 9.09 seconds and became an Olympic champion in the 4 x 100 meters relay in 2016.

Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of 9.72 s ranking fourth on the all-time list of men's 100-metre athletes.

By 2016, Powell had broken the ten-second barrier more times than anyone else—97 times.

However, he never managed to win a major individual title, with his two bronze medals in 2007 and 2009 his best finishes. He did however manage to win two gold medals at the World Championships and another at the 2016 Olympic games, but all were in the 4 by 100 m relays.

Now, he has opened up on the two darkest times of his career, which he has revealed were the World championships in 2007 in Osaka and the Olympic games in Beijing.

“I have had a few of those and they felt pretty much the same. I remember at the 2007 World Championships, there was no way I was supposed to lose the race, but things happened before and all that stuff and it caused me to lose the race,” Powell told The Mitchells YouTube channel.

“I tell myself some stuff and I have to really and then in 2008 at the Olympic games, I did not run like I was supposed to and I was really tough on myself. Those were my darkest moments.”

Powell has thanked his family for helping him get through those tough moments in his career.

“I had to pull myself out of the dark. They had to fly my father and brother to the games because I was in a (devastated) state.”

Powell has sent a message of encouragement to his fans, advising them to always do their best and not worry too much about situations that may be beyond their abilities to change.

“You cannot control what other people are doing. On the track, eight or nine people are on the track so you cannot control what they are doing. You have to focus on what you are doing.

“If everybody else breaks a world record and you also do one as well, you cannot be upset because you did your best at that time.”