ATHLETICS:Asafa Powell showed he had recovered from his disappointing third place at the World Championships in Osaka by breaking his 100-metre world record with a time of 9.74 seconds yesterday.

The Jamaican Commonwealth champion set the record in his heat at the Rieti IAAF Grand Prix and then went on to win the final in 9.78.

"It is a very fast record. It is to remind my friends that Asafa is still here," he said.

Powell had previously shared the record of 9.77 with the American Olympic champion Justin Gatlin, who has been banned for doping pending the result of an arbitration hearing.

At the world championships last month, Powell finished third in the final behind Tyson Gay of the US and Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas.

The 24-year-old said he had given up during the Osaka race, but would make amends by breaking his world record before the end of the year.

"I've been with my coach and working hard to get back to normal," Powell said yesterday. "The last 40 metres were very strong. I executed it and did what I came to do today."

The Jamaican, who took silver in the 100m relay in Osaka as Gay and the US team took gold, has never won a global title.

He was disqualified for a false start in the quarter-finals of the 2003 world championships after setting the fastest time, 10.05, in the heats.

He finished fifth in the 2004 Olympics behind Gatlin before missing the 2005 worlds through injury.

Powell initially set his previous record of 9.77 in Athens in June 2005 and went on to equal the time in June and August last year.