holder Asafa Powell looked comfortable in his first competitive 100-meter race of 2009, clocking 10.23 seconds Thursday to win at the season-opening World Athletics Tour meet. Powell, who finished fifth at the Beijing Olympics behind fellow Jamaican and current record-holder Usain Bolt, surged out of the blocks and finished two meters ahead of countryman Nesta Carter (10.42) and New Zealand's David Ambler (10.52). Running into a 1.4-meter head wind and in cool conditions at Melbourne Olympic Park, Powell said he was satisfied with his run. “It was a bit cold, the wind was heavy, but I'm still satisfied. I made it through,” he said. Powell was aiming for a sub-10 second mark for the 49th time in his career. “I'm not feeling bad about that race because the conditions were very poor,” he said. “So I'm excited to see what's going to happen in the next event.” Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker of Australia cleared 5.8 meters to win on home soil. Hooker, who set an Olympic record at Beijing when he cleared 5.96 meters, set the bar at 6 meters after winning his event, but failed to better his height. Olympic champion Melane Walker of Jamaica started slowly and never looked like challenging as she finished third in the women's 400 behind Australia's Tamsyn Lewis and Monique Lewis of New Zealand. Tamsyn Lewis finished in 51.86 - Walker was timed in 52.26. In the women's 100-meter hurdles, Olympic silver medalist Sally McLellan of Australia held out Jamaica's Brigitte Foster. In the men's 110-meter hurdles, Olympic bronze medalist David Oliver ran 13.6 to beat fellow American Joel Brown at 13.91. Australia's Justin Merlino was third. Chambers reveals more In London, British drugs cheat Dwain Chambers may be the favorite for the 60m title at the European Indoor championships in Turin this weekend but his latest revelations threaten to overshadow the event. Chambers, who served a two-year ban for taking the ‘designer' steroid THG in 2003, has made fresh allegations against fellow athletes and authorities in his new autobiography, “Race Against Me”. In the book, which has been heavily serialized in Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, the 30-year-old admits he was a “walking junkie” who took “more than 300 different concoctions” of performance-enhancing drugs. John Regis has threatened to sue over allegations.
