Liu overcomes jet-lag to win

NEW YORK: Chinese Olympic champion Liu Xiang overcame jet-lag to win the 110 meters hurdles and American Tyson Gay eased to an impressive 100 metres victory at the Reebok Grand Prix on Saturday.

World record holder Liu shook off a poor start to nudge past American Terrence Trammell, twice an Olympic silver medallist.

"I did not expect to do so well. I just knew that I had to beat Trammell," Liu said, adding that he felt tired after his long flight. "I did not expect both of us to be under 13 seconds."

Liu clocked 12.92 seconds and Trammell 12.95. Trammell partly blamed the loss on a strained adductor.

"It cramped on me," Trammell said. "I have mixed emotions because I'm happy with the time, but I'm disappointed with the loss."

Liu said his most important goal is winning in the Olympics next year but that he is more focused on Osaka at the moment.

The Shanghai star won world championship bronze and silver medals in 2003 and 2005 and is determined to win the top prize this time.

"I really want to see what winning the gold feels like this time," he said.

"Osaka is my lucky track, and I hope it brings me success again."

Gay, bidding to become the next great US sprinter, cruised to a convincing 100 meters triumph in a wind-assisted 9.76 seconds, 0.01 seconds inside world record time.

The 24-year-old Gay said he felt the wind picking up on the blocks.

"I don't really want to chase the world record. I'm more so happy with the victory because there were some tough competitors today," Gay told reporters.

"I'm not frustrated at all," he said. "I had a bad feeling (about the wind) in the (starting blocks.) It can't always be perfect."

Gay confirmed the stellar form he showed on May 20, when he clocked a wind-aided 9.79sec to win the 100m at a meeting in Los Angeles. On that ocassion the wind was 2.5m/sec.

Gay, who ended 2006 ranked No. 1 in the world in the 200m and second in the 100m, owns a best non-wind-aided 100m time of 9.84sec.

As he did in Los Angeles, Gay finished ahead of Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas (9.83). American Shawn Crawford (9.96) was third.

American Alan Webb raced past Kenya-born Bernard Lagat and Australian Craig Mottram to win the men's mile.

"With 110 metres to go, I just gave it everything I had and the rest is history," Webb said. "To beat these guys is no easy task."

In the women's 100m, Jamaican Veronica Campbell dashed to victory, overcoming a false start and a stiff challenge from 2003 world champion Torri Edwards to lead the field in 10.93 seconds.

"I executed well. I focused on staying tall and leaning at the right time," the three-times Olympic medallist said.

American Virginia Powell ran the year's fastest 100m hurdles time of 12.45 seconds.

Source: China Daily/Agencies