London showdown lined up for Powell

Asafa Powell, newly crowned as the world's fastest man, is being lined up for a sprint showdown with former record holder Maurice Greene in London next month.

Jamaican Powell last night set a world 100metres record of 9.77seconds at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, slicing one hundredth of a second off the mark set by American Tim Montgomery in Paris three years ago.

Organisers are now confident of finalising a deal for the 22-year-old, who was fifth in the Olympic 100m final in Athens on the same stadium track where he broke the record, to run in the Norwich Union British Grand Prix at Crystal Palace on 22 July.

Already lined up for the 100m at Britain's top international meet are Greene, who also set his former world record of

9.79sec in Athens, former world champion Kim Collins and Britain's leading sprinters, Mark Lewis-Francis and Jason Gardener.

"We know that Powell is going to be just about the hottest property in athletics now but we've already been in talks about him returning to the Palace, where he beat Greene last year, and we're very hopeful that we'll have a rematch," organisers said today.