World record holder Asafa Powell and Olympic champion Justin Gatlin locked hands and posed for photos in prizefight style Thursday ahead of their first meeting since Powell broke Tim Montgomery's 100-meter record last month.

Asafa Powell (R) of Jamaica and Justin Gatlin of the U.S. address a news conference for the presentation of the 25th Golden Gala athletics meeting in Rome July 7, 2005. The international meeting will be at the Olympic Stadium in Rome on Friday. [Reuters]

There were no verbal jabs, however.Powell, a reserved Jamaican, responded to questions in a voice just barely audible. The more outgoing Gatlin, meanwhile, said he does not follow in the lines of the showboating American sprinters of the past.

"We're not boastful, we just go out and leave everything on the track. He's humble and someone I respect," Gatlin said of Powell. "We're friendly. He's not someone whose head you want to rip off, but I do want to beat him when we're on the track."

Powell is suffering from a slight groin injury and was still to decide if he would take part in Friday's Golden Gala, the second meeting in the lucrative Golden League series after last week's Gaz de France, in which neither Powell or Gatlin competed.

"It's a little problem. I'm not 100 percent, but hopefully I'll be all right," said Powell, who injured himself in the Jamaican trials last month.

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