FanHouse Asafa Powell

When the track and field competition begins at the Olympic Games on Friday, the main focus will be on the men's 100-meter dash, where Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell will duke it out with American Tyson Gay for the title of World's Fastest Man.

But some of the focus will also be on the issue of performance-enhancing drugs. Recent history has told us that it's practically guaranteed that some of the greatest performances on the track will be called into question.

It's basically accepted by everyone that drug testing as part of the Olympics is here to stay, but Bolt and Powell think they're being unfairly targeted. Gina Kolata of the New York Times reports that Powell has been tested at least once a week since the track season started in May, and Bolt has been tested three or four times in the past 12 days, and they're starting to get sick of it. They also question whether they are being singled out for more testing than other athletes.

Jamaica's Asafa Powell beat his countryman, world-record holder Usain Bolt, in a head-to-head match-up in Stockholm. Here's the video:

Once considered the favorite to win gold in Beijing, Powell was becoming a little bit overlooked recently after Bolt broke the world record and American Tyson Gay put on a tremendous performance at the U.S. Olympic trials.

But by beating Bolt, Powell re-established himself as one of the favorites in Beijing. The Bolt-Powell-Gay 100-meter race will be one of the top events at the Summer Olympics; it's anyone's guess who will win the gold, but it would be a big upset if they don't all come home with medals.

The United States and Jamaica both had their Olympic track and field trials Saturday, meaning the three top contenders to win the 100 meters in Beijing were in action. American Tyson Gay put on the day's best showing.

Gay set a new American record by running the 100 in 9.77 seconds, an especially amazing time considering that it was just a quarterfinal heat, and he slowed down over his last few steps. If he had gone full speed through the finish line, he might have broken the world record of 9.72 seconds.

That world record is owned by Jamaica's Usain Bolt, who won his country's Olympic trial today with a time of 9.85 seconds. Although that's blazing speed, it's actually somewhat disappointing compared to the way Bolt has been running this year. And Bolt's countryman, Asafa Powell, turned in a very disappointing (by his standards) time of 9.97 in finishing second to Bolt.

Bolt and Powell will represent Jamaica in Beijing, while Gay still has to run in Sunday's semifinal and final before he even qualifies for the Olympics. But even though Bolt and Powell have both recorded faster times than Gay's 9.77, Gay looked today like the favorite to bring home the gold in two months.

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Jamaica's Asafa Powell is officially the World's Fastest Man. His first world record in the 100 meters came in 2005 when he ran it in 9.77 seconds; he has since lowered that mark to a paltry 9.74 seconds.

However, his legacy is marred by disappointing results on the grandest stages. He finished fifth at the Athens Olympiad in 2004, and his best finish in the 100 at the World Championships was a bronze in Osaka in 2007. He may be the fastest man ever, but he still needs Olympic gold.

He also needs your approval. Sure, he seems like an attractive man, but has he ever been judged as such by the readers of sports blogs? After the jump, enjoy some shirtless beefcake, analyze our stat sheet, and vote in the blogosphere's most superficial ongoing series.