Bolt fixed as the fastest man on earth

WORLD 100-metres record holder Usain Bolt defeated his closest rival Asafa Powell to qualify for the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, but his coach remained tight-lipped about whether he will run in the prestige event.

Bolt ran 9.85 seconds to finish first in Jamaica's Olympic trials, while Powell, the former record holder, clocked 9.97. Bolt took the world record from Powell last month when he lowered the mark to 9.72 at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York. Michael Frater secured the third berth on the Jamaican team for Beijing with his run of 10.04.

It is hard to imagine Bolt not running in China but his coach, Glen Mills, declined to reveal his plans, saying: "There is no decision yet and there won't be until August,".

Meanwhile, world champion Tyson Gay equalled the fourth fastest 100m of all time when he clocked an American record 9.77 in the quarter-finals at the US Olympic trials on Saturday. Only Bolt and Powell have run faster.

The run followed an embarrassing mistake by Gay in the opening round in which he said he misjudged the finish line and needed a late surge to qualify. His previous best was 9.84. His new time broke Maurice Green's US record of 9.79 set in 1999.