Despite Losing to Him in Beijing, Asafa Powell is Fixing Usain Bolt's Car

In the months since the Beijing Olympics in which Usain Bolt demolished Asafa Powell and emerged as the sprints champion, Asafa has found it in his heart to forgive him and is even souping up Usain's Honda Accord.

Asafa Powell loves cars, even if they belong to Usain Bolt, who usurped him as sprint king.

Powell lost his title as the world's fastest man to his fellow-Jamaican Bolt, but he is not the type to hold grudges.

In the six months since Bolt broke the 100m and 200m world records at the Beijing Olympics, Powell has been tinkering on Bolt's Honda Accord, fixing it up.

"Usain has no idea about cars," Powell said yesterday. "I am the one who really knows everything. I changed his clutch a couple of weeks ago for him because he likes to drive fast and I have to make sure the car is strong and safe, so I put a performance clutch in it for him and he is happy."

To those who wonder why he would fix a car for his main rival on the track, Powell said they were friends long before he decided to run the 100m. If Powell was not one of the world's best sprinters, he would love to be a motor mechanic.

He owns eight cars, including two Mercedes-Benzs and two trucks, all kept in the yard of his Kingston home, but his favorite is a hotted-up black Nissan Skyline with dark windows.

And while in Australia training and racing at Sydney's Track Classic tomorrow and in Melbourne on Thursday, he is stocking up on Skyline spare parts from a Melbourne store.

He said he could not get the parts at home, so he orders them before arriving in Melbourne and takes them home with him.

And if Bolt wants spare parts, Powell gets them for him, too. But for real performance, Bolt gets into his BMW M3, a post-Olympics gift from his main sponsor Puma. While Bolt was being feted after Beijing, Powell retreated to his garage, where he spent a few weeks just working on cars.

Powell, who went into the Olympic 100m final as favorite, finished fifth.


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