Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell will be able to test their world championship credentials against one another in Rome.

World champion Gay and former world record-holder Powell were overshadowed when Usain Bolt realised his potential by winning 100 metre and 200m golds at the Beijing Olympics.

But both have recovered from injuries and are determined to try to overhaul the Jamaican.

Their clash at the third AF Golden League meeting will give them the opportunity to send a message to Bolt that he will have a fight on his hands in Berlin's Olympic stadium in five weeks' time.

Gay is over the hamstring injury which ended his Olympic ambitions last year and the 26-year-old American said: "I'm 100% healthy and I give myself a 100% chance to win."

And Powell added: "We have been talking about beating Usain since the Olympic Games.

"He ran 9.69 seconds, so we know it is going to take faster than 9.69 to beat Usain. We want to win the world championships and we know what it takes to win."

Gay is delighted to be back on the European circuit.

"My season has been going okay and I do have high expectations for myself, but not necessarily at this meet," he admitted.

"I do want to run fast but I don't want to put a certain time on it.

"This is my first real competitive 100m dash."

Powell, who is already having a solid season, acknowledges the domination of his fellow Jamaican Bolt is his main motivation.

"He ran 9.69secs, which proves to us that we can go below 9.7s," he said.

"I was the athlete who ran 9.74s and I proved to the world that athletes can run 9.74s.

"So he has set a mark for us that proves that we can do it."

Tomorrow's Golden League meeting will see only five of the six remaining contenders for the IAAF Golden jackpot competing.

Kenenisa Bekele, Tero Pitkamaki, Kerron Stewart, Sanya Richards and Yelena Isinbayeva will all be in action - but Damu Cherry is an absentee.