NEW YORK  - Asafa Powell won the 50m at the US Open indoor athletics meeting on Saturday, then predicted the powerful Jamaican sprint squad could sweep the 100m podium at the London Olympics.
"Yes, it is very possible," Powell said after clocking 5.64sec to win the 50m at Madison Square Garden. Powell crossed the finish line in 5.64sec, edging compatriot Nesta Carter who was second in 5.67sec. American Trell Kimmons was third in 5.68, followed by compatriot Justin Gatlin in 5.71.
Despite his modesty, Powell's time was not far off the world mark of 5.56sec, achieved by both Canada's Donovan Bailey and American Maurice Greene in the rarely contested event. Jamaica's women are gearing up for big things at the London Games as well.
Veronica Campbell-Brown won the women's 50m in 6.08, in what she said was a stepping-stone performance for her bid to win a third consecutive Olympic 200m gold at London. US hurdler Lolo Jones is hoping to put injury woes behind her and engineer a solid 2012 campaign.
Jones was the tough-luck athlete of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, leading the women's 100m hurdles final over the first eight hurdles before crashing into the ninth. She barely got over the 10th, and wound up seventh. Now she is back on track, having overcome the rigors of spinal surgery last summer.
The meeting at the storied venue is a new event backed by USA Track and Field, after the venerable Millrose Games meeting was moved this year by organizers to a more modern arena elsewhere in New York.