Bolt close to Powell record

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has recorded the second fastest ever time in the 100 metres, clocking 9.76 seconds at the Jamaica International Invitation meeting.

The 200m silver medallist at last year’s World Championships stepped down in distance and thrilled the home supporters in Kingston with his performance yesterday.

His time has only been bettered by fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell, who set the current world record of 9.74sec at the IAAF World Athletics Tour meeting in Rieti last September.

The following wind of 1.8m per second for Bolt’s run was inside the legal limit of 2.0m/sec.

“I was definitely surprised when I saw the time,” said Bolt, whose previous best in the 100m was 10.03sec.

Wallace Spearmon of the United States finished second in 10.08sec, with Antiguan Daniel Bailey third in 10.12sec.