Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Usain Bolt will resume battle with his Jamaican rival Asafa Powell in front of a passionate home crowd on Saturday in the Caribbean Island's national championship. The pair eased through their heats on Friday in a celebratory atmosphere at the National Stadium with fans delighted to see their Olympic hero running again on his home track. Bolt, who is the world's fastest man having run 9.69 in Beijing last year, barely broke sweat as he cruised through his heat in a time of 10.14, while Powell also took it easy with his 10.36. Bolt, who also holds the Olympic gold and world record time in 200 meters, was frustrated by four false starts in his race. The pair will be alert on Saturday with places in Jamaica's squad for August's world championships in Berlin up for grabs. Michael Frater, Steve Mullings, Marvin Anderson and Yohan Blake, all winners of their respective heats, are eyeing spots on the team, and with just the top four granted a slot in the relay side, there will be plenty at stake. In the women's 100 meters, which did not feature preliminary heats, the true depth of Jamaican sprinting is on display with all the top three from Beijing facing off. Gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser is up against the pair who shared silver in China, Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson. There will be an intense battle for the top three spots though with Simpson not having competed since knee surgery last year and Aleen Bailey, Simone Facey and Sheri-Ann Brooks all fancying their chances of an upset. Veronica Campbell Brown, who is not competing in the 100 meters as she has a wildcard to defend her title in Berlin, is focusing on Sunday's 200 meters race. Rodgers wins US 100m In Oregon, Young Mike Rodgers, who almost quit running two years ago, claimed the top prize in the men's 100 meters when he held on to win in a wind-assisted 9.91 seconds at the US world championships trials on Friday. Veteran Darvis Patton finished a close second with little-known Rae Edwards third to join defending world champion Tyson Gay on the American team for August's world championships in Berlin. Patton clocked 9.92 and Edwards 10.00 behind an assisting wind of 3.1 meters per second. Fast times also came in a wind-assisted women's final. Carmelita Jeter edged Olympian Muna Lee by one-hundredth of a second for the title, clocking 10.776 seconds to Lee's 10.777. Former world champion Lauryn Williams claimed third in 10.96 seconds. The US lost Olympian Walter Dix in the semifinals when the double Beijing bronze medalist strained his right hamstring and ran a non-qualifying sixth. With Olympic champion Bryan Clay on the sidelines with an injury, Trey Hardee won the decathlon with 8,261 points. Collegiate champion Ashton Eaton was second at 8,075. World 400 meters hurdles champion Kerron Clement paced the 400 meters semifinals in 45.08 seconds. Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt won the other semifinal in 45.45. Beijing bronze medalist Sanya Richards was the quickest in the women's semifinals, finishing in a dominant 50.96 seconds.
