Liu Xiang shines in Shanghai Diamond League
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China's Liu Xiang reacts after winning the 110 metres hurdles ahead of David Olivier (R) of the U.S. at the 2011 Shanghai Golden Grand Prix May 15, 2011. [Photo/Agencies] |
Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang pulled off a major surprise by winning the 110-meter hurdles at the Dunlop Shanghai Golden Grand Prix yesterday and breaking American David Oliver's 18-race win streak.
Liu dominated the race from the start, finishing in 13.07 seconds to the delight of the home crowd. Oliver was second in 13.18, while American Aries Merritt was third in 13.24.
Liu, the 2004 Olympic champion, has struggled with injuries since his dramatic, last-second withdrawal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was experimenting with a new start technique in Shanghai, taking seven steps to the first hurdle instead of his customary eight.
"The first three hurdles were good. In fact, it was good from the start to the finish," Liu told reporters after the race. "I am very satisfied."
"I didn't quite expect too much from my new technique. It was just a try," he said. "I need to be patient because sometimes when you are applying a new technique I have to make sure I keep my own pace instead of being affected by the other athletes."
Oliver hadn't lost an outdoor 110-meter hurdles race since August 2009 and was coming off a win on Thursday in Daegu, South Korea.
Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell cruised to victory in the men's 100 meters, finishing in 9.95 seconds. American Michael Rodgers was second in 10.01, while Jamaica's Mario Forsythe was third in 10.12.
Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown beat American rival Carmelita Jeter to capture the women's 100 meters on her 29th birthday.
Campbell-Brown benefited from a fast start and held off a quickly closing Jeter in the final meters to win in a time of 10.92 seconds. Jeter was second in 10.95 and Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare third in 11.23.
Jeter has been dominant in the 100 this season, setting the fastest time of the year - 10.86 - in Jamaica last weekend and then winning again in Daegu.
Campbell-Brown, meanwhile, was running in her first 100-meter race of the year. The two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 200 meters is planning to compete in both the 100 and 200 at the worlds in South Korea in August.
Olympic gold medalist Asbel Kiprop of Kenya was outsprinted in the stretch by countryman Nixon Kiplimo Chepseba in the men's 1,500 meters, a little over a week after he captured the men's 800 meters at the year's first Diamond League event in Doha, Qatar.
Chepseba finished in a time of 3 minutes 31.42 seconds, while Kiprop was second in 3:31.76 and Ethiopia's Mekonnen Gebremedhin was third in 3:32.36.
Jamaica's Kaliese Spencer outsprinted a tiring Lashinda Demus of the United States at the finish line to capture the women's 400-meter hurdles in 54.20 seconds. Olympic and world champion Melaine Walker of Jamaica, back on the track after missing most of the 2010 season with an Achilles injury, finished third.
Two-time world champion Yargelis Savigne of Cuba easily won the women's triple jump with a leap of 14.68 meters, while the two-time world champion in the women's high jump, Blanka Vlasic of Croatia, won her event with an effort of 1.94 meters.
