BIRMINGHAM – Barbadian hurdler Ryan Brathwaite beat Olympic champion Aries Merritt yesterday to win the men’s 110 metres hurdles at the IAAF Diamond League Grand Prix in Birmingham.
Brathwaite led from start to finish to win the final in a wind-aided (2.6) time of 13.13 seconds. The national record is 13.14.
Merritt, of the United States, was second in 13.22 seconds and Artur Noga of Poland third in 13.32 seconds.
In the preliminaries, both Brathwaite and Merritt clocked 13.23 seconds despite Brathwaite having one of the slowest reaction times in the field.
Another American, David Payne, was disqualified in the final.
Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria upstaged illustrious rivals Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Carmelita Jeter to win the 200 metres, capping a tough day for a string of reigning Olympic champions on their return to Britain.
The standout race of the Diamond League meet was billed as a head-to-head between Fraser-Pryce and Jeter but triple African champion Okagbare made an unusually strong start and held off Fraser-Pryce, the two-time Olympic 100-metre champion from Jamaica, to win in 22.55 seconds.
Jeter, the world 200 champion, trailed in a disappointing seventh in 23.36.
“I just focus on myself, I don’t care who is in the lineup,” said Okagbare, who won an Olympic bronze in the long jump in 2008. “I don’t underestimate those two, I know they are good.
“The time wasn’t so fast but it’s always a good feeling winning so I’m happy.”
Double Olympic long-distance champion Mo Farah thrilled home fans by winning the 5 000 metres ahead of Ethiopian challengers Hagos Gebrhiwet, Yenew Alamirew and Ibrahim Jeilan, but it wasn’t such a great day for many other gold medallists from the London Games, including Merritt.
Sally Pearson of Australia slumped to fourth in the women’s 100 hurdles as Dawn Harper-Nelson led an American 1-2 ahead of Kellie Wells.
Olympic champion Felix Sanchez was seventh as Javier Culson dominated a high-quality 400 hurdles field to win in 48.59, and Jennifer Suhr of the United States could only come third in the women’s pole vault.
Nesta Carter of Jamaica capitalized on the absence of the leading men’s sprinters such as Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin to win the 100 in 9.99 seconds. (AP/SAT)