Usain Bolt Edges Asafa Powell In Rome Diamond League

Usain Bolt was involved in a minor car accident early Sunday morning in his home county of Jamaica, crashing his BMW into a guardrail. Bolt, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, was uninjured, according to his publicist.

The incident occurred at 5:15 a.m. in Jamaica’s capital of Kingston, just three days after his 100-meter victory at the Diamond league meet in Oslo, Norway. Bolt was on his way home from a party when the “fender bender” happened in the busy Half-Way Tree neighborhood. His publicist told the AP in Jamaica that “there were no injuries at all” and that Bolt was “fine and resting at home.”

Current men’s 100-meter world record holder Usain Bolt will take on Asafa Powell, the previous fastest man alive, during Thursday’s Diamond League events in Rome. Several other events will be worth watching for track and field fans, but Bolt vs. Powell is the showdown most likely to make headlines.

Powell, who held the world record for almost three years, is also one of only two runners to ever defeat Bolt in the 100 meters. The other, American Tyson Gay, topped an admittedly out-of-condition Bolt in August 2008. Of course, Powell has also lost to Bolt eight times and hasn’t beaten him in almost three years.