US sprinters Tyson Gay and Carmelita Jeter overshadowed Liu Xiang’s comeback performance on Sunday when they recorded the second fastest men’s and women’s 100m races in history.
Jeter, the bronze medalist at last month’s world championships in Berlin, blasted the blue riband event at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in 10.64 seconds, 0.01sec faster than the disgraced Marion Jones.
But her time was still a way off Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record of 10.49sec.
The 29-year-old Jeter has enjoyed a fantastic season in which she has seen her times increase as the months went by.
The absence of Jamaican triple world and Olympic champion Usain Bolt counted for little in the men’s 100m, where Gay powered to an impressive victory in 9.69sec, the joint second fastest time in history (with Bolt).
The American took advantage of a 2.0 m/s tailwind, the maximum limit for a 100m to be considered eligible.
Gay, who finished second behind Bolt when the latter set his world record run of 9.58sec in Berlin, beat home Jamaica’s former world record holder Asafa Powell, who finished in 9.85sec with American Darvis Patton third.
Bolt had been due to compete in Shanghai but pulled out, citing fatigue.
Liu Xiang, the Athens Olympic champion, thrilled his home crowd in a much-anticipated comeback after his pull-out from the 110m hurdles at the Beijing Games.
The stadium erupted as Liu and Terrence Trammell, the world No. 2, finished neck-and-neck, both registering 13.15sec, with the American credited with first place ahead of Liu.
Liu, 26, exploded out of the starting blocks, racing for the first time since he limped out of the Bird’s Nest last year during qualifying heats. Compatriot Shi Dongpeng placed third in the race ahead of four-time world and 1996 Olympic champion Allen Johnson.
Russian pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva triumphed but failed on a third attempt to clear what would have been a world record of 5.07m.
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