Jamaican Olympian Asafa Powell to be honored with Impact Award

From left, former Miss Jamaica World Ayisha Richards, Jamaican Olympian, the ‘Sub 10 King’ Asafa Powell and Diane Johnson, former Miss Jamaica USA.
Photo by Anthony Turner

Jamaica Olympic 100-meter sprinter Asafa Powell will be honored with the 2024 Bleu & Bougie Impact Award at the upcoming Elite Weekend party series on March 16 and 17 at the iconic Devon House in Kingston, Jamaica.

New York’s Bleu & Bougie co-producer Jerry McDonald told Caribbean Life on Monday that Powell will be honored for “the impact he has made in track and field globally.”

“We recognize Asafa for setting the 100-metre world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds, and for consistently breaking the 10-second barrier in competition, with a personal best of 9.72 second, which ranks fourth on the all-time list of men’s 100-metre athletes,” he said.

McDonald said Powell, regarded as the “Sub 10 King” in athletics, has broken the 10-second barrier 97 times in the 100m, “which is more times than any other athlete.”

He said Powell joins an elite list of past Bleu & Bougie honorees, including Safaree (Lloyd Samuels): Love & Hip Hop, NY TV star; Bounty Killa: International dancehall DJ; Nadine Sutherland: International reggae singer; Cristy Barber: GRAMMY-nominated music producer and business executive; Kurt Riley: Jamaican broadcaster, producer and elite club disc jock; and actor Nick Creagan, whose credits include David Makes Man (Oprah Winfrey network), Law and Order: Organized Crime (NBC TV) and Joker in the TV series Batwoman.