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Wariner whips 400m field at Adidas

Defending Olympic and world champion Jeremy Wariner continued his preparation for the upcoming world championships by easily winning the 400m at the Adidas Track Classic on Sunday.

Wariner ran a 44.60 to defeat runner-up Chris Brown of the Bahamas (45.10) and third place finisher Sanjay Ayre (45.25) of Jamaica.

Wariner ran a 44.02 last month in Japan and has set himself the goal of breaking Michael Johnson's world record of 43.18, which Johnson set in 1999.

Tyson Gay won the 100m with a personal best time and Ethiopia's Meseret Defar set a world record in the two-mile (3.2km) run at the Home Depot Center facility in Carson, California.

Gay, 24, won the 100m in 9.79 seconds, beating runner-up Derrick Atkins, who finished in 9.86 seconds, and Steve Mullings of Jamaica, who placed third in 10.02 seconds.

Last year, Gay was ranked No. 1 in the world in the 200m.

The Sydney Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene competed but did not make the final on Sunday. Greene finished last in his heat.

The 32-year-old Greene finished in a disappointing 10.84 seconds in only his second race of the year.

Olympic 5,000m champ Meseret Defar set a world record in the women's two-mile run by finishing in nine minutes, 10.47 seconds.

Defar broke the previous world record of 9:11.97 set in 1999 by Regina Jacobs of the US.

The crowd at Home Depot Center roared as the 23-year-old runner cruised toward the finish line, leaving her rivals far behind.

Defar grabbed the green, gold and red Ethiopian flag and jogged around the track, stopping to greet well-wishers.

Many of Sunday's competitors will take part in the US nationals, which begin on June 20.
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