Anthony Foster, Gleaner Writer

Asafa Powell was yesterday recognised over lunch by GlaxoSmithKline, distributors of Lucozade, which is one of the athlete's sponsors.

Powell, accompanied by his coach Stephen Francis and MVP Club president Bruce James, was presented with a book and a framed picture by Lucozade at the Terra Nova hotel function.

Personal tributes

In the book, according to Robeth Streete, marketing manager, Lucozade, are notes from well-wishers, some of which she said "were too personal to read".

She did, however, read a few, but the ones that had the audience laughing were "King Asafa ... my husband, babyfather-to-be..." and "Remember May 6, 2009 when we will get wet."

Asked by members in the gathering if she meant wed, Streete spelt the word: "w-e-t."

Streete told Powell that the entire GlaxoSmithKline staff cheered him on during the Olympics, especially his sizzling 4x100m anchor leg, which was done in a world record 8.7 seconds.

"Asafa, you continue to do MVP, your country and Lucozade proud. We will continue to support you and lift you up, as we expect the best of you," she said.

In his response, Powell presented a surprise gift - a framed picture of himself running the anchor leg for Jamaica in Beijing. He thanked GlaxoSmithKline for supporting him.

"I really love the support Lucozade has given to me over the years," he said, while noting the company was the first to jump on board when he broke the 100 metres world record in 2005.