Asafa Powell of Jamaica (right) sprints beside Tyson Gay of the U.S. to win the men's 100m race at the Zurich Golden League meeting in Switzerland recently. Powell won the race in 9.77 seconds to equal the current world record. - Reuters

STUTTGART, Germany (AP):

Asafa Powell, Yelena Isinbayeva and other leading track and field stars have one last shot this weekend at rubbing some of the dirt off a doping-tainted season.

More than 40 world and Olympic champions and world-record holders are competing in the IAAF World Athletics Final, a two-day meet centred on extending unbeaten streaks, setting world records and giving the best athletes a big payday.

The US$3 million purse will reward anyone setting a world record with US$130,000. Victory alone will earn US$30,000. Organisers say they are still on course to attract 60,000 spectators at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium, which has taken over from Monaco as competition host.

Unbeaten

All eyes will be on Powell today when he lines up for one of his last 100 metres of the year. The Jamaican twice equalled his world record of 9.77 seconds and won all six Golden League meetings this season to remain unbeaten this year.

Even a bad start does not daunt him.

"I can lose a couple of metres and still come back and beat them," he said.

U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay is expected to be Powell's main challenger.

"Any athlete is beatable, but to beat Asafa I will need to have the perfect race," Gay said.

A duel between Powell and world and Olympic champion Justin Gatlin was supposed to provide the highlight of the season, but the American tested positive this spring and faces an eight-year ban. The world record he shares with Powell will be stripped if found guilty.

It has left Powell with only a record time to chase, and few doubt he can do it. Early in the season, he had some trouble dipping at the line and some bad starts later but he has the class and skills to put a full flawless race together.

Powell isn't the only athlete capable of setting a world record this weekend.

The final could take a spectacular start when Tatyana Lysenko enters the throwing circle for the hammer throw. She already set two world records this year. Fellow Russian Gulfiya Khanafeyeva briefly held the mark but Lysenko, who has a build more reminiscent of a high jumper than a hammer thrower, won it back with a heave of 77.80 metres.

After a tiring season, few count on long-distance runners to set records, even if Ethiopians are continuing their dominance. World and Olympic champ Kenenisa Bekele has overcome an early season lapse to be his overpowering self again. In the women's races, however, it has been a much tougher battle between world champ Tirunesh Dibaba and Olympic champion Meseret Defar in the 5,000.

Golden League meets

Defar set a world record early this season, before Dibaba started to dominate the Golden League meets. With a sweep of all six races beckoning, plus the biggest share of the US$1 million jackpot, Defar outkicked her compatriot in the sprint of the concluding ISTAF meet to slice about US$125,000 off Dibaba's hoped-for payout.

Few know what Liu Xiang will have in store after spending most of the season training in China. When he came to Lausanne, Switzerland, in July though, the Olympic champ set a world record of 12.88 in the 110 hurdles. U.S. veteran Allen Johnson lost the early part of his season to injury but has come back strongly, even winning the prestigious Weltklasse Golden League meeting in Zurich last month. When it comes to consistency, few can match American 400 runner Jeremy Wariner. The Olympic champ is probably not up yet to challenge the world record of his mentor Michael Johnson, but a spotless season is a challenge in itself.

"The main goal is to stay consistent with my times," he said.