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Asafa Powell Opens New Chapter as a Sprint Coach and Consultant

Former world record holder Asafa Powell is now working as a high-performance sprint consultant, offering coaching, video analysis and speed training across sports.

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Asafa Powell in his racing days for Jamaica

Asafa Powell spent his career teaching the world how to start a sprint. Now he is teaching it for a living.

The former 100m world record holder has launched a new chapter as a high-performance sprint coach and consultant, opening his expertise to sprinters, high school and college athletes, coaches, clubs and national federations. Powell is also offering speed work for athletes in football, rugby and basketball — any sport where the first steps decide everything.

His focus is exactly what made him famous: starts and acceleration through the first 60 metres, top-speed mechanics, and race preparation. Athletes who cannot reach him in person can send in video of a start or sprint and receive personal feedback and drills. Bookings are being handled by Doyle Management.

Few resumes carry more weight. Powell held the 100m world record at 9.72 seconds and ran an astonishing 97 races under 10 seconds — more than any sprinter in history — along with winning Olympic relay gold with Jamaica. He was also one of Stephen Francis’ first stars at the MVP Track Club, the system that turned raw talent into a production line of champions.

If Powell can pass on to young sprinters the belief Francis once gave him, his second act in the sport could matter almost as much as his first.

Photo: Imago via EssentiallySports

We Speak College Football

Saturday of Chaos: Five of the AP Top Seven Fall for the First Time Since 1936

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Tennessee celebrates its 26-10 win over Alabama — the signature result on a Saturday when five of the AP top seven lost.

College football has been playing with an AP poll since 1936. It had never seen a Saturday like this one: five of the top seven teams in the country — No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas — all lost on the same regular-season day, and the top two teams lost on the same day for the first time since Nov. 17, 2012. For the second straight week, the nation’s No. 1 team fell to an unranked opponent, something that hadn’t happened since 1990.

The carnage: Auburn beat No. 1 Georgia 27-24 in Athens on a field goal as time expired, the Tigers’ first win there in 31 years. BYU toppled No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 in Provo behind four total touchdowns from Bear Bachmeier, ending the Irish’s 16-game winning streak. Ohio State survived Indiana 19-15 in Bloomington, snapping the Hoosiers’ 22-game winning streak — but lost quarterback Julian Sayin to a shoulder injury. Tennessee’s defense strangled No. 6 Alabama 26-10 in Knoxville, holding the Crimson Tide to 201 yards. And Florida went into Austin and beat No. 7 Texas 27-24 behind first-time starter Tramell Jones Jr.

The survivors: No. 3 Miami needed two overtimes to escape Florida State 43-35 in a rivalry classic. No. 9 Ole Miss routed No. 13 Missouri 31-3, LSU blanked No. 16 Mississippi State 31-0, No. 10 Texas Tech hung 53 on Arizona State, and No. 15 Kentucky rallied to win 21-13 at Oklahoma. Michigan benched Bryce Underwood and still beat Penn State 21-18. Elsewhere, Utah edged Colorado 27-24, UCLA beat Wisconsin 17-7, Houston outlasted Oklahoma State 35-32, SMU topped Virginia 23-13, Wake Forest routed Cal 41-7, Oregon held off Nebraska 17-14, and Washington beat Purdue 38-26 on Friday night.

The new AP Top 25 tells the story of the shakeup: Miami is No. 1 with 40 first-place votes, BYU is No. 2 (20 first-place votes) and Ohio State No. 3 (9). Notre Dame sits fourth, Georgia fifth, Indiana sixth, followed by Ole Miss, Texas Tech, UCLA and Utah. Tennessee climbs to No. 11 and Kentucky to No. 12, while Alabama tumbles to No. 13, LSU rises to No. 18, Texas falls to No. 19 and Florida cracks the poll at No. 20. Missouri (No. 22), SMU (No. 23), Northwestern (No. 24) and Arizona (No. 25) round out the rankings.

Week 8 has a lot to live up to.

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