Donovan Powell (born 31 October 1971 in

Linstead Linstead is a town in the parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica, in the West Indies. In 2011 its population was 15,231. It is located NNW of Spanish Town. Description Close to Ewarton and Windalco Ewarton works, a large aluminum plant employ ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

) is a former sprinter who specialised in the

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

and

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

events. He is the brother of

Asafa Powell Asafa Powell (born 23 November 1982) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consistently ...

, a former 100 m

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

holder. Powell had his first successes at the

CARIFTA Games The CARIFTA Games is an annual athletics competition founded by the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). The games were first held in 1972 and consist of track and field events including sprint races, hurdles, middle distance track ev ...

, where he won two silver medals in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, before taking the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

title in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. He first represented Jamaica at the global level at the

1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 4th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from March 12 to March 14, 1993. It was the last Indoor Championships to feature the 5,000 and 3,000 metres race walk events. In addition, ...

. He began attending

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

and had success at the 1994

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

championships, taking third in the 100 m and anchoring the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competi ...

to a

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switc ...

gold. The next year he took a silver medal over

55 metres 55 metres is a sprint event in track and field. It is a relatively uncommon non-championship event for indoor track and field. The history of the event lies in the 60-yard dash, which is about 5 inches shorter than 55 metres. Since the 1960s alm ...

indoors and won another silver outdoors, setting his 10.07 seconds personal best for the 100 m. He qualified for the 1995 World Championships with a second place at the Jamaican National Championships, but his test from the competition came back positive for the stimulant

ephedrine Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and sympathomimetic agent that is often used to prevent hypotension, low blood pressure during anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred ...

and he was banned for three months. After returning to competition he ran at the 1997 World Championships (reaching the quarter-finals) and he was sixth in the final of the 60 m at the

1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 7th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in the Green Dome Maebashi stadium in Maebashi, Japan from March 5 to March 7, 1999. It was the first time the Championships were staged outside Europe or North America. Primo Nebi ...

. He represented

Jamaica at the Olympics Jamaica first participated at the Olympic Games in 1948, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then. In 1960, Jamaican athletes competed as part of the West Indies Federation team. Jamaica has also participated in the ...

at the

2000 Sydney Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, running in the relay heats. His final international appearance came at the 2001 CAC Championships, where he was seventh in the 100 m final. He retired from athletics in 2002 and is now a youth track coach in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Career

Powell attended St. Jago High School in

Spanish Town Spanish Town (Jamaican Patois: Spain) is the capital and the largest town in the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica, St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica, Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and Briti ...

and

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. He represented the

while studying at the university.

1989

Powell finished second in the Under 20 Men 100m at the

, time 10.64 s, second in the 200 m in 21.8 s and first in the 4 × 100 m relay in 40.4 sCARIFTA GAMES (UNDER 20 MEN)
/ref>

1990

Powell famously defeated Daniel England in the Class one 200 m at the ISSA High School Championships, giving England his only loss in four years at the Championships. At the

he won the Under 20 Men 200 m in 21.42 s (wind -3.7 m/s) as well as the 4 × 100 m relay in 40.66 s

1993

Competing at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Powell finished sixth in his heat, time 7.02 s.Donoval Powell IAAF profile
/ref>

1994

Powell finished third in the 100 m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and anchored the TCU 4 × 100 m relay team to first place.

1995

At the NCAA Indoor Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, Powell finished second in the 55 m, his time 6.19
/ref> On 19 May Powell was hand timed at 9.7 s in Houston. It is a disqualified time for record purposes. Powell repeated his success at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, again anchoring the TCU 4 × 100 m relay team to first place, and finished second in the 100 m in his personal best 10.07. He finished second in the 100 m at the Jamaican National Championships with a run of 10.15 seconds. At the

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bislett ...

in July he ran 10.13 in the heats and then took second behind

Linford Christie Linford Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former Sprint (running), sprinter and athletics coach. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes ...

, running 10.15 seconds into a headwind. Powell received a three-month ban from competition for a doping offense as his test was positive for the stimulant

. He was disqualified from participating in the

1995 World Championships in Athletics The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi, Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995. This edition featured 1804 athletes from ...

.Harvey, Randy (1995-08-03)
Two Sprinters Out of World Championships
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. Retrieved on 2010-08-30.

1996

In January Powell finished second by 0.01 seconds to Donovan Bailey in the 60 m at the Montreal Grand Prix. He had previously finished second to Bailey in the 50 m one week prior in Hamilton, and second again two days later in the 60 m behind Bruny Surin. Later in January, he won the 60 m at the Boston Indoor Games, in 6.64 s. He won the 60 m at the Atlanta US Indoor Championships in 6.55s in March. Powell won the May Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava. His time of 10.13 is listed as the sixth fastest in the history of the event.

1997

After the 1996 season his form declined and he did not manage to run under 10.20 seconds for the rest of his career. Slowest out of the starting blocks, Powell finished sixth in his second round heat of the 100 m at the

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in 10.35 s, and did not progress to the next round. The Jamaican team did not start the first heat of the 4 × 100 m relay, for which Powell was supposed to run first leg.

1998

At the Texas A&M All-Comers on 9 May, Powell recorded the fastest time in the 100 m, 10.16 s. This time made Powell the tenth ranked Commonwealth Athlete for the period January to August.

1999

In the February Stockholm Indoor Meeting Powell finished fourth in the 60 m final, in 6.68 s. At the

Maebashi is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It was ...

, Japan Powell finished sixth in the 60 m final with a time of 6.59 s.

2000

At the Sprint Invitational Track & Field Meet in January Powell finished fourth in heat one of the 60 m, in 6.78 s. Powell ran the first leg of the 4 × 100 m relay in round one of competition at the

Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. The team qualified for the semi-final with a time of 38.97 and eventually finished fourth in the final without Powell running a leg. At the Texas relays in April Powell helped to win the 4 × 100 m relay in 39.16, along with teammates Milton Mallard,

Kareem Streete-Thompson Kareem Streete-Thompson (born March 30, 1973) is a Caymanian-American athlete specializing in the long jump and the 100 metres. He was born in Ithaca, New York. Although born in the United States, he lived his first 18 years in the Cayman Islan ...

and

Obadele Thompson Obadele "Oba" Thompson Order of Barbados, BSS (born 30 March 1976) is a Barbados-born former sprinter, lawyer, author, and speaker. He won Barbados's first and only Olympic medal as an independent country by placing third in the 100 metres at the ...

. In August Powell finished fourth in 10.44 in the 100 m in Lappeenranta, Finland.

2001

In February Powell won his heat of the University of Houston/Runsport All-Comers meet. His 60 m time was 6.88s. Powell finished seventh in the 100 m at the Jamaica National Championships in June, his time 10.31 s. At the CAC Championships in Guatemala City Powell finished seventh in the 100 m, his time 10.51 s. The 4 × 100 m relay team qualified with the second fastest time but recorded a DNF in the final.

Post competition life

Powell is now a youth track coach in Texas. He also conducts speed enhancement clinics at other locals.

Personal bests

His personal best in the 50 m event is the second fastest time by a Jamaican. All information taken from

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

profile.

Personal life

In 2002 one of Donovan's brothers, Michael Powell, was shot dead in a taxi in New York. In 2003 Donovan lost another brother, Vaughn Powell, who suffered a random heart attack while playing a game of American Football. In April 2007 Corey Reid, an uncle of Powell, was stabbed in Waterloo,

Ewarton Ewarton is a town in the parish of Saint Catherine, Jamaica. History The name is most likely a compound of the surname "Ewart" and the suffix -ton, meaning town. The town's economy prospered particularly from 1957 when ALCAN established a baux ...

, St. Catherine. He later died in hospital.Court date for man charged with murder of Asafa Powell's uncle

Achievements

References

External links

*
Picture of Donovan Powell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Donovan 1971 births Living people Athletes from Saint Catherine Parish Doping cases in athletics Jamaican sportspeople in doping cases Jamaican male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Jamaica TCU Horned Frogs men's track and field athletes USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners