Asafa Powell withdrew from the 100 metres at this weekend's World Cup in Greece so he can race in Japan next week.
Powell set his 100 world record of 9.77 seconds the last time he sprinted in Athens in 2005, but his manager, Paul Doyle, said he will run only in a relay in Athens this week.
``Coach Stephen Francis made the decision about two months ago to pull Powell from the 100 metres (in Athens),'' Doyle said Tuesday.
``(Francis) said it doesn't make any sense running the 100 at the World Cup when he is going to run in Japan.''
Doyle will make his Japan debut on Sept. 24 at a Yokohama meet, as a prelude to the 2007 world championships in Osaka, Japan.
``The main reason for going to Japan is to have him see what Japan is like,'' Doyle said.
He added it will be Powell's final 100 race of the year.
``We wouldn't rule out a world record,'' Doyle said.
Powell has twice this year equalled his own world record, in June at the British Grand Prix, and last month in Zurich.
This weekend in Athens he will run the 4x100 relay with Jamaican countrymen Michael Frater, Dwight Thomas, and Ainsley Waugh, and Trinidad's Marc Burns as an Americas team.
