BY PAUL A REID

Observer writer

reidp@jamaicaobserver.com

THREE-TIME World Championships 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser- Pryce and a women’s 400m team that ran a blistering 41.60 seconds, the sixth fastest ever, were the Jamaican highlights at yesterday’s penultimate IAAF Diamond League meeting, the Weltklasse Zurich, held in Switzerland.

While not producing the sub-10.70 seconds time she was hoping for on a cool evening, Fraser-Pryce was too good for the field and ran away to win in 10.93 seconds (-1.4m/s) and retained the Diamond trophy with 20 points.

Just over a week ago, Fraser-Pryce had retained her IAAF World Championships 100m title in Beijing, China, and showed little signs of the fatigue that affected a number of the runners last night.

Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor was second in 10.98 seconds and American Tori Bowie, the World Championships silver medallist, third in 11.06 seconds.

“There is no more to ask for,” Fraser-Pryce said afterwards. “I won the World Championships and the Diamond race. I am glad I finished first here. Each time I come out here, I want to do my best. I was eager to come back on track after Beijing. I have one more race to go on Sunday.”

Fraser-Pryce said despite having to fly back from China, “today´s (yesterday’s) race felt OK”.

“It is not easy to race again in such a close time. I needed to adjust again, but we are used to it, we are professional athletes.”

Veronica Campbell Brown was sixth in 11.22 and Natasha Morrison, making her professional debut, was seventh in 11:30 seconds.

Later on Fraser-Pryce anchored the team of Sherone Simpson, Morrison and Elaine Thompson to clock a swift 41.60 seconds, the second fastest time this year behind the time run by the Jamaican team that won in Beijing and sixth fastest of all times, setting a meeting and Diamond League record in the process.

World Championships 200m silver medallist Thompson won the 100m B race in 11.06 seconds (0.1m/s) ahead of Simpson (11.27) with American Barbara Pierre third with the same time and Kerron Stewart fourth in 11.33 seconds.

NACAC Championships winner Rasheed Dwyer took second in the men’s 200m in 20.20 seconds (0.4m/s), beaten by Diamond League winner Alonso Edward of Panama, who ran 20.03 seconds, while World Championships bronze medallist Anaso Jobodwana was third in 20.24 seconds just ahead of Nickel Ashmeade (20.35).

Kaliese Spencer’s late-season slump continued as she was fourth in the women’s 400m hurdles in 55.29 seconds to relinquish her Diamond League title to repeat World champion Zuzana Hejnova, who won in 54.47 seconds.

Janieve Russell, a finalist in Beijing, was seventh in 55.98 seconds.

In the men’s 400m hurdles, Annsert Whyte was seventh in 50.22 seconds.

In the first event of the day’s programme, Jason Morgan finished eighth in the discus throw with a best mark of 58.52m which came in the first round.

Morgan, who set a national record 68.19m in June, fouled his next two throws and finished with 58.25m, 58.37m and 57.58m as Pole Robert Urbanek won with 65.78m while his countryman Piotr Malachowski, the World champion, took second and won the Diamond League trophy.