Frenchman Ladji Doucoure on Friday evening won the 110-meter hurdles at the first of the six-leg Golden League meet series at the Stade of France in the northern suburb Paris, beating four-time world champion Allen Johnson and Chinese star Liu Xiang.

Doucoure, 22, won in 13.02 seconds, breaking his personal record and edging Johnson by 0.02. Liu was third in 13.06, equaling his season's best.

Two other members of the American team for Helsinki, Dominique Arnold and twice Olympic silver medallist Terrence Trammell, were fourth and sixth respectively.

Doucoure told journalists after the match he didn't think he had defeated Liu Xiang, champion of Athens Olympic Games, saying he must keep himself "good good" for the following five legs of the Golden League in Rome (July 8), Oslo (July 29), Zurich (August19), Brussels (August 26), Berlin (September 4) as well as next month's Helsinki world championships final.

Source: Xinhua