Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt is no “superman” and can be beaten, his compatriot and rival Asafa Powell (pictured in June) insists. “Well anybody can be beaten but in the 100 metres right now Usain is running very fast… So you really have to be at your best on that day to win the race,” said Powell, ousted by Bolt as the world’s fastest man last year.

Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt is no “superman” and can be beaten, his compatriot and rival Asafa Powell insisted on Tuesday.

“Well anybody can be beaten but in the 100 metres right now Usain is running very fast… So you really have to be at your best on that day to win the race,” said Powell, ousted by Bolt as the world’s fastest man last year.

“It’s pretty much the best man wins on that day and there’s no real superman or anybody that is invincible,” he said in a forum with Singaporean students, part of promotions for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in this city-state.

“So anybody can be beaten.”

The 27-year-old Powell later told journalists that “Usain is the target right now and I’m shooting at him, hopefully I don’t miss”.

“I still have confidence in myself, I know I can do it,” he said.

Bolt, 23, smashed his own 100m world record with a time of 9.58 seconds at the Berlin world championships in August.

American Tyson Gay claimed silver in 9.71sec, finishing a good couple of metres off Bolt, with Powell clocking 9.84sec for bronze.

US Sanya Richards (R), 400m race and women’s 4×400m relay champion, and Jamaican Usain Bolt, world and Olympic sprint champion, pose with their trophies after being awarded female and male athletes of the year 2009, in Monaco, during a press conference prior to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) gala.

Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt and Jamaican-born United States 400 metres runner Sanya Richards were named athletes of the year here on Sunday.

Bolt, 23, wooed the crowds again this year at the world athletics championships in Berlin when he took the 100 and 200 metres individual titles in world record times and also for good measure was part of the Jamaican 4×100 metres winning team.

Those titles were added to the Olympic triple he won in Beijing last year and came off the back of him starting his season with a car accident.

“It’s been an amazing season, but also a trying season,” said Bolt, who broke his own world records with stunning 9.58 and 19.19 second performances at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.

“To be named athlete of the year is such a great honour, it shows that all the work we put in pays off.”

While Bolt knew the thrill of winning major titles already for 24-year-old Richards it was a virginal experience as the graceful and attractive naturalised-American had flattered to deceive in Beijing where she ended ith only a minor medal in the individual event.

However, she was majestic in Berlin putting Great Britain’s Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu in her place as she won the title and then added a second gold in the 4×400 metres relay.

“I was asked if this feeling would be the same as being world champion and it really is,” said Richards, who had previously been named World Athlete of the Year in 2006.

“Considering the other athletes I was up against this year, I know this must have been a really tough decision.”

Richards can be thankful for even having the chance to compete after contracting the rare Behcet’s disease in 2007 and developing mouth ulcers which at times made it too painful to eat and lesions on her legs which felt like hot irons pressing on her skin. (more…)

South Africa's Caster Semenya is seen here in August 2009. South Africa's sports governing body said on Wednesday it will probe the conduct of athletics officials in the gender tests carried out on 800 metre world champ Semenya.

South Africa’s sports governing body said on Wednesday it will probe the conduct of athletics officials in the gender tests carried out on 800 metre world champ Caster Semenya.

“We are mindful of the fact that people are angry and upset, but caution that due process must be followed in attempting to uncover the truth,” said Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) president Gideon Sam.

Outrage around Semenya – who faces a gender storm – deepened after Athletics South Africa (ASA) admitted on Saturday that sex tests were done ahead of the world championships in Berlin, and that medical advice to withdraw her was ignored.

“SASCOC will launch a full investigation into the Semenya matter to ascertain the truth about events leading to the participation and testing of Semenya and subsequent conduct of the officials of ASA,” Sam said in a statement.

A probe into Semenya’s sex was announced last month by the world athletics governing body the IAAF, shortly before she powered to the world’s fastest 800m this year at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

Leaked test results to the media reporting Semenya was a hermaphrodite this month caused further anger from the South African public and government, who have rallied behind the athlete and gave her a hero’s welcome on her return from the games.

Deputy sport minister Gert Oosthuizen on Sunday called for ASA head Leonard Chuene to be fired after he admitted to lying about the tests, saying “they will be running the risk of being led by a liar” if they did not act.

But a cabinet meeting on Wednesday said that “sports bodies must be given to deal with the matter first”, the Sapa news agency reported.

Sam welcomed ASA’s decision to co-operate in the investigation, saying meetings were planned with the athletics body.

“The investigation will result in making recommendations to SASCOC’s board on how the matter should be handled, and there are various options available to SASCOC,” he said.