ROME, May 26 -- World record-holder Usain Bolt won his first race after a nine-month break on Thursday when he needed a late kick to win the 100 meters in 9.91 seconds at the Golden Gala.

Former record-holder Asafa Powell, who led all the way until the final five ten meters, finished second in 9.93 and European champion Christophe Lemaitre finished third in 10.00.

As usual, Bolt got off to a slow start, but managed to overtake Powell with his very last strides.

The Jamaican, who had trained hard to improve his start in the recent, was not happy with his performance.

"In fact it was a totally bad race and I'm just pleased I won," he said. "I was nervous as it was my first race of the season and I didn't think it went well and the nerves got to me."

Bolt had been sidelined by injuries since last August when he he was beaten by Tyson Gay in Stockholm last August, ending the Jamaican's two-year unbeaten streak.

Bolt has now beaten Powell in nine of their 10 meetings, with Powell's only win coming in Stockholm in 2008.

Powell rued his lost chance to beat Bolt this time, and for him this is a race he could have won.

"I'm tired toward the end and if I had kept it up I would have been the winner tonight," Powell said.

"I think I was too worried by Usain at the end of the race. I always said this was my race to win and I gave it away. I knew I could have won and I needed to stay focused and relaxed. I'm more confident now as I know I could have won," he said.

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