ROME, (Reuters) – Jamaica’s Asafa Powell continued  his flying form by winning the 100 metres at Rome’s Diamond  League meeting in a world leading time of 9.82 seconds yesterday despite a dreadful start.

Powell had a reaction time of 0.214 out of the blocks, which  he told reporters was “the slowest I’ve ever had in my entire  life”.

However, that did not stop him from bettering his year’s  best of 9.83. The 27-year-old did run 9.72 in Oslo last week but  the wind was above the legal limit.

Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre was second in 10.09 with his  compatriot Martial Mbandjock third in the same time.

Powell knows he will have to do even better to challenge  Jamaica’s world record holder Usain Bolt and America’s Tyson  Gay, who both have minor injuries at the moment, but he was  confident he is up to the task.

“It was a pretty good race,” said the sprinter. “The only  problem was I got a very poor start. I’m happy with how I did in  the last part of the race.

“I’m a 100 percent sure I can go a lot faster. I’m just  waiting. I haven’t started my speed work yet (in training),” he  said, adding that he had gained power after purposely losing  five kilos in weight.

The Rome crowd’s hopes of seeing Jamaica’s Olympic and world  champion Shelly-Ann Fraser serve up a similar display were  dashed when she became the second athlete to be disqualified for  a false start in the women’s 100 metres, won by American  Lashauntea Moore.