Bolt’s return to action and first Italian appearance showcases Rome meeting – PREVIEW – Samsung Diamond League

25 May 2011 – Rome, Italy – The first major men’s 100 metres head-to-head showdown of this year's Samsung Diamond League featuring Usain Bolt and fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell will showcase the Compeed Golden Gala 2011 on Thursday (26 May), the third instalment of this season’s 14 fixture global invitational track and field series.

An enticing speed duel between World record holder Bolt in his season's opener and Powell, who held that mantle prior to 2008, is not surprisingly tipped to top the bill of the first Samsung Diamond League meeting in Europe of 2011. Rome follows on from Doha (6 May) and Shanghai (15 May), the latter at which Powell was the winner in 9.95 sec on his own 100m season’s debut.

Bolt in his first ever appearance on Italian soil has not have competed since losing to Tyson Gay, 2010 Diamond Race 100m winner, in Stockholm last August and admits to being "nervous" about his eagerly awaited comeback.

But traditionally the 24-year-old Olympic and World 100m and 200m champion does step into top gear fairly easily such as he did in Daegu's World Challenge meet last year when clocking 9.86 in his 100m opener.

Last week the world's fastest man declared himself fully ready for his return and coach Glen Mills backed that statement by insisting after a strenuous winter's training that Bolt is well on target to defend his World Championship gold medals in Daegu in three months’ time.

With Powell himself starting  his campaign with an impressive 9.95 victory, currently the second fastest time in the world this year, it suggests the high quality field boasting a posse of sub-10sec performers, can threaten another Jamaican, Steve Mullings’ world season lead of 9.89.

Bolt making no secret he sees Powell as a major threat to bring about his downfall when they clash in the 1960 Olympic Stadium, said: "Asafa is a great athlete. He’s been in the top three for a lot of years now and he’s broken the World record many times.”

And although having beaten his rival in eight of their nine 100m encounters, he added:  "For me, Asafa is great and he’s going to come out running. The competition between us is always good and I’m just looking forward to going out there and competing against him."

Powell has an impressive record at previous Golden Gala meetings equalling Maurice Greene's stadium record with a time of 9.85sec in 2006 before seeing it become the property of Tyson Gay who clocked 9.77 when equalling his USA record two years ago.

Last May saw the 2007 and 2009 World 100m bronze medallist score yet another win when producing his fastest legal time of the year of 9.82 with a conclusive victory ahead of Christoph Lemaitre and Martial Mbandjock.

The French duo have both returned and the performance of Lemaitre who went on to claim the European 100m and 200m gold medals, will be closely monitored but even with Trinidad's Olympic silver medallist Richard Thompson also on the start line, Bolt has to be believed when saying that Powell will be the man to beat, although Gay's meet record may on this occasion be a bridge too far.

Vlasic chasing fifth victory

Double World High Jump champion Blanka Vlasic along with Powell also starred in Rome’s last edition and in her build up to the World Championships (August 27-September 4) started her campaign with a low key win in Shanghai clearing 1.94m. The 2010 Women's Athlete of the Year, a fully deserved overall winner in all seven of her 2010 Samsung Diamond League outings, easily beat Nadezhda Dusanova and Vita Styopina.

Neither the Uzbekistan and Ukrainian jumpers were ranked in the World Top 10 last year and on this occasion Vlasic is more likely to be wary of Emma Green Tregaro the Swedish runner up behind her in the European outdoor championships, and of Spain’s World Indoor silver medallist Ruth Beita.

The 27-year-old Croatian last year fought a meteoric battle with USA’s Chaunte Lowe in Rome’s arena where Bulgaria’s Stefka Kostadinova set her still intact World record of 2.09m at the second edition of the IAAF World Championships in 1987. Vlasic is tantalising close to that world mark with her 21-month-old personal best at 2.08m, and is adamant she can one day surpass one the toughest records in modern history.

However, more realistic on this occasion will be challenging the meet record of 2.03m that she and Lowe achieved in their epic encounter last year, and which Hestrie Cloete (RSA) and Yelena Slesarenko (RUS) first achieved seven years ago.

Jimoh aiming to build on Doha success

USA’s Funmi Jimoh made a great start to her Samsung Diamond League season when beating reigning Olympic champion Maurren Maggi by a centimetre with a world leading leap of 6.88m in Doha.