American Dwight Phillips unleashed a leap of 8.74m to win the Prefontaine Classic long jump on Sunday and said the venerable world record was within his power.
Phillips — the 2003 and 2005 world champion and the 2004 Olympic champion who struggled with injuries last year — became the joint fifth-best performer ever in the event.
Since Mike Powell set the world record of 8.95m in 1991, only Erick Waldner had jumped so far, posting an 8.74 at altitude in El Paso, Texas, in 1994.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Only Powell, former world record-holder Bob Beamon, US great Carl Lewis and Robert Emmiyan have jumped farther, while Larry Myricks has also recorded an 8.74.
“That was a great, great class of jumpers,” Phillips said of the four men in front of him. “I’m just hoping to be in the same category. It would be a dream come true to jump further than them.”
Irving Saladino of Panama, who won Olympic gold in Beijing last year, was second with a jump of 8.63m. Australia’s Fabrice Lapierre was third with 8.02m.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Phillips’s winning jump was his third of the competition, and came into a headwind of 1.2m per second.
“I tend to slow down my last two strides. I didn’t feel that at all,” said the 31-year-old, who broke his previous personal best of 8.60m twice in one day — notching an 8.64 on his fourth attempt before passing on the final two rounds.
Phillips said Lewis had once told him that the key to breaking the world record would be to jump consistently at a high level.
“I need to jump far all the time if I want to break that world record,” he said. “That’s definitely my goal. I feel that I’m capable.”
Unheralded American Michael Rodgers notched the fastest men’s 100m in the world this year, clocking 9.94 seconds (with a tailwind of 1.7m per second) to beat former world record-holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica.
Powell edged American Walter Dix for second and said he was encouraged by his performance as he comes back from a nagging ankle injury.
“I was more confident,” said Powell, who clocked 10.07 seconds. “But I didn’t really try to push it. I came out of the blocks slow.”
Dix was third, also in 10.07, while Churundy Martina of the Dutch Antilles, who clocked 9.97 in Hengelo last week — was seventh in 10.24.
There was disappointment for a string of Beijing Olympic gold medalists.
Shelly-Ann Fraser, who won the 100m in Beijing, finished fourth in the event won by American Carmelita Jeter, with a wind-aided 10.85 seconds. Jamaican Kerron Stewart was second in 10.90 and American Muna Lee was third in 11.02.
Maggie Vessey won the women’s 800m run with a time of 2:00.18.
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