Bolt, Powell and Lemaitre in 100m battle

Just as it was last year, the 100m will provide the highlight of the Diamond League meeting at the Stadio Olimpico today with Usain Bolt the main draw once again.

And just as was the case last year his main competition will come from compatriot Asafa Powell and European champion Christophe Lemaitre.

It may not be an unusual highlight but that won't make it any less anticipated or explosive.
Last year Olympic champion Bolt was slow out of the blocks and former world record holder Powell looked set for victory until the leggy legend strode past him to pip him at the post by two hundredths of a second.

It was Bolt's first outing of the year and he was far from satisfied with it but this time he comes into the race following his slowest 100m in three years.

Bolt ran 10.04sec in Ostrava last week and although he won, like everyone else he was shocked at the time he clocked.

But he says he believes the track in Rome is fast and he's hoping to see something nearer 9.7sec come up on the scoreboard when he crosses the finish line.

"Like every race I definitely want to win but for me it's all about execution," he said.

"The key thing is getting a consistent start, my coach likes me to execute properly so he can review the race and analyse it and figure out what I need to do to go forward."

Powell will likely be his toughest competition but Lemaitre has proved himself an elite level athlete over the last 12 months, finishing fourth in the 100m final at the World Championships in Daegu and going one better in the 200m.