Powell equals men's 100 metres world record

ZURICH, Aug. 19 (Reuters)

Jamaican Asafa Powell equalled the men's 100 metres world record for the second time this year, clocking 9.77 seconds at a Golden League meeting on Friday.

Powell initially set the record in Athens on June 14, 2005. The 23-year-old then equalled the time at a grand prix meeting in Gateshead, England on June 11 this year.

"Maybe I'll have to dip when I get to the finish line," Powell told reporters as he left the track. "I knew I had something special, but I didn't know so fast."

He jointly holds the record with Olympic and world champion Justin Gatlin, who ran 9.77 in Doha on May 12 but the American has since announced he failed a dope test for testosterone in April.

Without serious competition on Friday, Powell blasted down the fast Letzigrund track to finish 0.07 seconds ahead of Tyson Gay of the United States.

"Can I run faster? I think so -- we'll just have to wait and see," Powell said. "If I'm going to continue to run 9.77 for the rest of my career, it's not a bother to me."

Americans Leonard Scott (9.97) in third and fourth-placed Marcus Brunson (9.99) also dipped under 10 seconds.

Newly-crowned European champion Francis Obikwelu of Portugal finished well off the pace in 10.26 seconds after appearing to struggle from the start.

Gatlin faces a life ban from the sport after announcing his positive test last month.

The 24-year-old previously tested positive for an amphetamine in 2001 but was reinstated early from a two-year ban because he said the substance was in a prescription medicine he took for a form of attention deficit disorder.

Gatlin has denied taking performance enhancing drugs.