Athletics-Gatlin and Powell create new sprint rivalry

EUGENE, Oregon, May 27 (Reuters) Three years ago, Justin Gatlin and Asafa Powell were just two young sprinters among many running fast times and hoping to go faster.

Now they are the joint 100 metres world record holders, giving the men's sprints a competitive edge unmatched since Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson clashed in the 1980s.

''Michael Johnson, he really had no rivals,'' Gatlin told Reuters in an interview. ''Maurice Greene really had no rivals. Marion Jones as well.

''Every (recent) great sprinter in track and field who has set the tone has had no one to rival them, at least not for long.'' Powell told Reuters the rivalry was ''probably once-in-a-life''.

''People want to see us and want us to run 9.6,'' he said.

Powell, a 23-year-old Jamaican who zoomed to the world record of 9.77 seconds last year, is a Caribbean-born and developed sprinter.

When healthy he can out-perform the best. although he has yet to win a major global title.

Gatlin has. The 24-year-old American's mental toughness and sprinting talent have resulted in Olympic and world gold and now a share of the world record.

Together they offer a welcome gloss on a sport seeking positive headlines.

''Who can say that they ever sat there and watched co-world record holders in the 100 metres, and they both have not reached their prime?'' Gatlin said.

Powell said one of the pair could eventually reduce the mark to 9.74.

''I want to set a mark that people can look back and say, 'Asafa and Justin were the two greatest sprinters ever','' Powell said ''I hope we can achieve that goal,'' Gatlin said.

The pair's relationship is unusual, especially for sprinters.

Instead of the high-powered trash talk associated with many speedsters, Powell and Gatlin show respect for each other in public.

''That's my type,'' Powell said. ''I don't throw words at a person who is not fast like me and I don't see why I should change.'' Still, as the pressure to perform and the financial rewards for high-level sprinting have increased, a harder edge has begun to emerge.

''Last year or the year before that, we were just two guys running fast,'' Gatlin said. ''Now, the public, the critics, the reporters have painted us as rivals.

''Words have been spoken back and forth toward each other. But on the track, we are definitely rivals.'' REUTERS PG PM1535