Asafa Powell is the new 100-meter world record holder, but can he perform when championships are on the line? AP

1) Was it any surprise that Asafa Powell took down the 100-meter world record in Athens?

Sprint world records are seldom a surprise. Anybody who has witnessed Asafa Powell's top-end speed, first-hand, can't be shocked that he ran 9.77. The way he ran away from Maurice Greene in the Olympic quarterfinals last year? The way he ran 9.85 on a cold, rainy night last week, paving the way to his record?

"Sometimes guys get on a roll,'' former 110-meter hurdles world-record holder and current agent Renaldo Nehemiah told me Wednesday. "Powell is on a roll right now.''

Powell is without question the fastest man in the world. The questions remains: Can he use that speed effectively when championships -- the worlds, the Olympic Games -- are on the line? When I talked to him at the Pre Classic, he said he can. Now. All great sprinters are fast. Greene has an Olympic gold medal and three world titles because he kept his head -- and his form -- together under championship pressure. When Powell does that, look out.

2) Is that going to happen at the Worlds in Helsinki?

Not so sure about that. Justin Gatlin is no short hitter under pressure, as he proved in Athens. I think what we have is a rivalry, and lord knows, track and field needs rivalries. Gatlin is a bright, young guy who trains hard and, like Greene before him, runs well under pressure. Powell is The Natural. Greene ran 10.08 last week. When I talked to Ato Boldon a couple of weeks ago, he said, "Maurice is overweight and unmotivated, and he's still running OK.''

I can't imagine Mo has many more sub-10s in his battered body, but I'm not counting him out. Shawn Crawford is a wild card, as always. I see Helsinki as being every bit as good as last year's Olympic final, which was only the best race in history. Start the countdown.

3) Another kind of runner: Can we really expect Afleet Alex to run for the rest of this year, much less as a 4-year-old? After all, he's worth millions, right?

The Preakness and Belmont winner is worth at least $25 million now, without ever running another race, and he's not going to be able to win that much money on the racetrack. Let's commend Team Afleet Alex -- trainer Tim Ritchey and the Cash Is King LLC ownership, led by Chuck Zacney -- for coming forth with good intentions to keep Alex on the racetrack. It's obvious he's the best 3-year-old in training and his Preakness and Belmont wins were terrific, athletic theater. But a year ago Team Smarty Jones was making the same type of public pronouncements about keeping Smarty on the racetrack and then he didn't run another race after his loss in the Belmont Stakes. Sure, Smarty was a little bit hurt, but he was retired largely for the money, like all great horses are retired for the money. It is the troubling paradox of racing that good horses are worth much, much more to their owners in the breeding shed than on the racetrack. Unfortunately, they don't sell tickets or broadcast television shows from the breeding shed.

All that said, there's an air of authenticity to Ritchey, Zacney and the gang. They've already turned down millions to sell or syndicate Alex and kept him running. They talk a terrific game, about bringing Alex to the Haskell, the Travers, the Super Derby and the Breeders Cup. The offers are going to get bigger as time passes and it will be harder to turn them down. Watching a horse like Alex brings goosebumps; retiring a horse like Alex brings financial independence. I hope the goosebumps win, but I'm glad it's not me making the decisions with two kids to send to college.