Powell in confident mood

Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell predicted he would beat Olympic champion Maurice Greene in the Athens Games 100 metres final next weekend.

Powell, 21, has already defeated Greene in consecutive races this year and is the favourite for the Games' blue ribband event.

"That gives me an extra boost, to have beaten Maurice Greene twice," Powell told a news conference. "Let him stay at the back."

Powell was one of two athletes disqualified in the quarter-finals of last year's world championships in Paris for a false start.

He has bounced back this year to set a Jamaican record of 9.91 seconds before going on to beat Greene in successive races in London and Zurich.