Powell is all set for Beijing, after two sub-10sec runs.

His 9.94-second victory on Friday ensured he finished ahead of Trinidad's Marc Burns (9.97sec) and compatriot Michael Frater (10.00sec).

The race had been originally billed as a clash with world champion Tyson Gay.

However, the American pulled out after failing to recover from the hamstring injury he suffered during the Olympic trials last month.

Powell, who has yet to win an Olympic gold medal, is expected to come up against Gay and world 100m record-holder Usain Bolt at the Beijing Games.

Bolt, Powell's Jamaican teammate, set the world record in May, running 9.72sec in New York. He decided to skip the 100m in London and was scheduled to run the 200m yesterday.

He is still undecided about running in both the 100m and 200m in Beijing.

Powell beat Bolt in the 100m on Tuesday in Stockholm, clocking 9.88sec to win.

Powell was hoping to register a faster time but a strong head wind prevented him from doing so.

He said: 'The race did not quite go as expected but felt easy. A bit more work to do and everything should be fine for Beijing.

'There are a lot of people running fast at the moment and I don't see any one athlete as being my main competitor.

'The way I am running at the moment I feel I am in the best shape I have been in.'

If Powell met expectations, women's world 200m champion Allyson Felix was the disappointment of the night, finishing only fourth in the 200m.

The American clocked 23.00sec, a time which would not guarantee her a place in the Beijing final in three weeks' time.

The event was won by Jamaica's Sherone Simpson in 22.70sec.

Felix's limp performance so enraged her that she left the stadium, refusing to discuss her run and she did not take her place in the 4x100m relay.

Two weeks after setting her 23rd pole vault world record in Rome, Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva narrowly failed in her bid to make it 24 when she attempted to clear 5.04m.

Her record stands at 5.03m.

America's Jenny Stuczynski, Isinbayeva's closest rival, only cleared 4.81m and looks powerless to prevent the Russian from successfully defending her Olympic title.

'I really felt I could jump a world record today,' Isinbayeva said. 'I was so close.'

The third attempt nearly gave Isinbayeva her 24th world record but, despite teetering on its perch for a moment, the bar fell.

'I've got one more competition, then a rest for two weeks before Beijing,' Isinbayeva said. 'It's going to be a hard competition in Beijing and it might be necessary to break a world record to win.'

Anna Rogowska of Poland was third with 4.65m.

AP, AFP