Asafa Powell underlined his status as favourite for Olympic gold in the 100 metres when he beat current champion Maurice Greene for the second time in a week at the Zurich Golden League meeting in Zurich on Friday.

Jamaican Powell, who defeated American Greene in London last Friday, won by one hundredth of a second with a time of 9.93.

"I am feeling great because I beat Maurice Greene again and I guess I am the big favourite for the Olympic Games now," said Powell.

"I am very confident because I have been improving my start a lot."

Powell was powerful out of the blocks and Greene, who admitted struggling with his starts prior to the Zurich meeting, was unable to make up the ground in the latter stages of the race.

"It was better than in London but to beat Asafa I need a complete race," said Greene, who was also beaten by Portugal's Francis Obikwelu in the Paris Golden League meeting two weeks ago.

"But it is coming together and my goal remains the same the two gold medals in Athens."

World champion Kim Collins, of St Kitts and Nevis, was a disappointing seventh in Zurich.

Four athletes -- Felix Sanchez, Christian Olsson, Hestrie Cloete and Tonique Williams-Darling -- remain in contention for the $1 million dollar Golden League jackpot after Lithuania's Virgilijus Alekna was beaten into second place by Hungarian European champion Robert Fazekas in the discus.

STUNNING FINISH

Twice world champion Sanchez, of the Dominican Republic, produced a stunning finish to win the 400 metres hurdles after entering the straight in third place behind American duo Bershawn Jackson and James Carter.

The victory, in a time of 47.92, extended Sanchez's unbeaten run to 39 races, spanning more than three years.

"It was a terrible race for me," said Sanchez. "I was close to making a mistake in the first part. But I didn't panic. I have a lion's heart and big confidence so I made it in the end."

Swede Olsson, the world triple jump champion, returned to winning ways following a defeat in Stockholm last week with a jump of 17.46 as he maintained his quest for the jackpot.

South African Cloete equalled Yelena Slesarenko's world lead high jump of 2.04 as she set a new meeting record to preserve her unbeaten Golden League record.

Williams-Darling of the Bahamas completed the evening's events with victory over Mexican rival Ana Guevara in the 400 metres to ensure she still has a chance of claiming a share the jackpot.

Zurich was the fourth of six Golden League competitions with Brussels and Berlin to follow in September.

KNEE INJURY

In other events, world 1500 metres champion and world record holder Hicham El Guerrouj was beaten by Kenya's Bernard Lagat in the run to the line, and Kenyans Wilfred Bungei and Jon Kibowen were victorious in the 800 and 5000 metres respectively.

Bernard Williams, a late replacement for John Capel, took the 200 metres and Allen Johnson was at his best in winning the 110 metres hurdles.

Mozambique's Maria Mutola won 800 metres with a season best 1:57.47 and Poland's Wioletta Janowska took the women's 1500 metres with a personal best of 4:03.09.

American Sandra Glover, who missed out on qualification for the Athens Games, won the women's 400 metres hurdles after world champion Jana Pittman withdrew with a knee injury.

France's Christine Arron took the honours in the women's sprint and world champion Perdita Felicien, of Canada, won the 100 metres hurdles.