Jamaican Asafa Powell during his record-breaking 100-metre victory at the Athens Super Grand Prix meet. Powell clocked 9.77 seconds, bettering the now expunged world record held by Tim Montgomery with 9.78 seconds which was set in Paris in 2002. - REUTERS
MONACO, Italy (CMC):
AMERICAN TIM Montgomery's two-year ban from competitive track and field has benefited Caribbean sprinters, who have advanced in the all-time list of 100 metres performances.
Montgomery and fellow American sprinter Chryste Gaines were given two-year suspensions on Tuesday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for doping offences, despite neither runner ever failing a drugs test.
The 30-year-old Montgomery eclipsed Maurice Greene's (9.79 seconds) world record in September 2002 setting a new mark of 9.78 seconds, which along with his two other sub-10 second clockings from March 2001 were stripped by the sport's governing body.
With this, Caribbean-born sprinters have progressed in the top 10 all-time lists of performances in the 100 metres, and Trinidad and Tobago's sprint relay team from the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, also benefits.
Jamaican Asafa Powell tops the World lists with his world record of 9.77 set in June ahead of Greene, who occupies second at 9.79, while two Caribbean-born Canadians are joint third at 9.84 - Jamaica-born Donovan Bailey and Bruny Surin, who is from Haiti.
100 METRE GREATS
Joint at fifth are Americans Leroy Burrell, and reigning Olympic and World Champion Justin Gatlin at 9.85. Trinidad and Tobago's national record holder and former 200 metres world record holder Ato Boldon with his 9.86 moves up to seventh, along with three other sprinters.
Joining him are two-time Olympic 100 metres champion Carl Lewis of the United States, Namibia's Frankie Fredericks and Nigeria-born Olympic silver medal winner Francis Obikwelu of Portugal.
Just missing out on the top 10 is Olympic bronze medallist Obadele Thompson of Barbados. He is ranked 11th with his personal best 9.87 seconds set in Johannesburg 1998.
Montgomery and his American teammates will also be stripped of the gold medal for the 2001 World Championships sprint relay, in which T&T's team of Boldon, Darrel Brown, Marc Burns, and Jacey Harper copped bronze. The new development now pushes the T&T unit into the silver medal spot behind South Africa. Montgomery also looks set to have his huge earnings from breaking that record confiscated.
ALL-TIME BEST 100M
1. Asafa Powell (Jam) 9.77
2. Maurice Greene (US) 9.79
3. Donovan Bailey (Can) 9.84
3. Bruny Surin (Can) 9.84
5. Leroy Burrell (US) 9.85
5. Justin Gatlin (US) 9.85
7. Carl Lewis (US) 9.86
7. Frankie Fredericks (Nam) 9.86
7. Ato Boldon (T&T) 9.86
7. Francis Obikwelu (Por) 9.86
11. Obadele Thompson (B'dos) 9.87.
