Jamaican stars shine in Shanghai

Powell, Campbell-Brown, Spencer score wins

Monday, May 16, 2011

SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Jamaican sprint star Asafa Powell banished recent injury woes with a 9.95 seconds win in the men's 100 metres at the Diamond League event yesterday, after a pulled hamstring led to a last-place 200m finish a week earlier.

Meanwhile, Chinese star hurdler Liu Xiang thrilled a hometown crowd in Shanghai, starting his outdoor season with the fastest 110m of the year as he seeks to recapture Olympic glory at London 2012.

In front of a rapturous crowd Liu, who in 2004 became China's first athlete to win an Olympic track gold medal, ended world number one David Oliver's 20-race winning streak with a time of 13.09 seconds.

Liu, who has been eyeing the London Olympics since an Achilles injury forced him out of his first heat at the 2008 Beijing Games, said he felt good on the track.

"I reacted the fastest from the block. I am very satisfied with the time," Liu said, adding the time made him more confident that he could break the 13-second mark this season.

The 27-year-old former world champion came in seventh at last year's indoor championships in Doha, and while Liu won a third straight Asian Games title in November, he was far from his personal best of 12.88.

Dubbed the "flying man" in China, Liu said he has cut the number of steps before launching into the first hurdle from eight to seven as part of his efforts to make the podium in London.

Jamaica's Powell, formerly the world's fastest man, said he also wanted to test his form as he starts an ambitious outdoor 100 metres season.

He will square off with both his main rivals — the world's fastest man and fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt and American Tyson Gay — before the World Championships in South Korea in late August.

Although he dominated Sunday's race, it was far from his personal best of 9.72, which he predicted he might beat before the meet. Bolt holds the world record with a time of 9.58.

"I did not want to push it too hard tonight. I am surprised it was sub-10. It was a good win ... I was very confident tonight," Powell said.

Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown, the fastest woman in the world last year, won the women's 100m (10.92), beating Carmelita Jeter, who clocked the year's fastest time — 10.86 — in Kingston.

Campbell-Brown, who turned 29 yesterday, hailed the win as her birthday gift and praised her reception from the "warm and welcoming" Chinese crowd.

In the women's 400m hurdles, Jamaica's Kaliese Spencer, the world number one, won in a time of 52.20, seeing off challengers American Lashinda Demus and Olympic champion Melaine Walker, who returned after an Achilles injury sidelined her last year.

Nixon Kiplimo Chepseba ran the year's fastest 1,500m in 3:21.42 minutes, beating fellow Kenyan and Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop, who came second despite running a season's best of 3:31.76.

Croatian high jump star Blanka Vlasic, the 2010 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) female athlete of year, won with the best jump of the season at 1.94m.

The Diamond League awards points depending on performances throughout the 14-event programme with the overall winners in each of the 16 individual events taking home a diamond trophy and a cash prize.

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Jamaican stars shine in Shanghai