ROME (AP) — Asafa Powell has dominated the 100 metres so far this season, and the Jamaican sprinter believes he can only go “faster and faster”.

Powell headlines the Golden Gala in Rome today, the latest event of the elite Diamond League series.

The Jamaican ran a wind-aided 9.72 seconds to win in Oslo last week in his third major race of the year. He had the year’s fastest legal time a week earlier, clocking 9.83 seconds in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Before that, he won in Doha with a wind-aided 9.81 after running a windy 9.75 in the heats.

“I’m just very excited about the way the season is going now,” Powell said. “In my last race in Oslo, I had a sore groin and hamstring but the time was still very fast. I think as the season goes on I will continue to run faster and faster.

“Everything is going great with the races now and I am expecting to keep improving as the season progresses. Doha 9.75, Ostrava 9.83, Oslo 9.72. I’m excited to see what comes next.”

Powell is hoping to use the absence of rivals Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay to close the gap on the duo. It is likely to be a long season for Powell culminating with the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October, with a hoped-for showdown between Jamaican teammates Powell and Bolt in the 100.

In the men’s 400 metres, Jeremy Wariner is using the Golden Gala as a way of returning to his top form.

Since winning in Rome in 2008, the American lost his Olympic and world titles and had his career disrupted by injuries.

Now, though, he has recovered from injury to both knees and is setting his sights on the US national championships in July.

“I’m feeling pretty good right now after I had some mishaps in training,” he told reporters yesterday. “I had surgery on my right knee last September and then problems with the left knee.

“I’ve missed a lot of training and am about a month behind. I want to get running again and build for the United States championships and the second half of the season.”

Wariner won gold in the 400 at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was world champion in 2005 and 2007, but lost his Olympic title to compatriot LaShawn Merritt in 2008 and his world title to the same rival a year later.

“I want to improve every race I run in and go under 44 seconds,” Wariner said. “I need to execute my races better. In Puerto Rico I ran the first 200-metres well, but not the second. In Shanghai it was the opposite. I need to get both right and run my curves better.”

The women’s high jump features three of the event’s biggest names: two-time world champion Blanka Vlasic, 2007 world silver medallist Antonietta Di Martino and Chaunte Howard-Lowe, silver medallist at the 2005 worlds.

A year ago, Di Martino beat Vlasic, with Howard-Lowe third. Vlasic won in Rome in 2008, but despite her success here remains critical of the track.

“It is not the best track for me,” Vlasic said. “It’s very hard and not good for my jumping. Obviously it isn’t the same for everyone, but for me I don’t like it.”

The Diamond League is the successor to the Golden League. There is a total of $6.3 million in prize money across 32 track and field disciplines. The top performers in each event at the end of the season will get $40,000 as well as a diamond trophy valued at $10,000.