Jamaica trio strikes in Rieti

RIETI, Italy (AP):

American Walter Dix won the 100-metre race and Jamaica's Schillonie Calvert took the female equivalent at the Rieti Grand Prix yesterday.

Calvert numbered among three Jamaican winners at the Italian meet, the others being Kaliese Spencer in the women's 400 metres hurdles and Shericka Williams in the women's 400 metres.

Dix, the silver medallist at Worlds, clocked 10.02 seconds to win ahead of Lerone Clarke of Jamaica, who clocked 10.06 for second ahead of the United States' Justin Gatlin, 10.08.

Calvert took the female equivalent in 11.09 seconds, beating the Australian world 100 hurdles champion, Sally Pearson, who clocked 11.24 for second. Bulgaria's Ivet Lalova, 11.26, placed third.

Spencer, who had dominated the women's 400 hurdles but missed out on a medal at the Worlds, where she placed fourth, completed back-to-back wins this week, by winning the 400 hurdles in 53.60 seconds, comprehensively beating world bronze medallist Natalja Antjukh of Russia, who claimed second in 55.05. The Ukraine's Anastasia Rabtsjenjuk, 55.81, placed third.

Williams, who also placed outside the medals at Worlds, continued her late-season improvement to land the flat-400 in 50.81 seconds ahead of Russian Tatjana Firova, 50.97, and Ukraine's Antonina Jefremova, 51.69.

There was an American winner in the men's 200, where Jamaican Mario Forsythe claimed third.

LaShawn Merritt, the World Championships' 400m silver medallist, won the half-lap event in 20.13, beating Norway's Jaysuma Saidy Ndure, 20.41 and Forsythe, 20.51.

Also, world record holder David Rudisha ran the fastest 800 metres of the year.

Returning to the site where he set the record, the recently crowned world champion Kenyan was timed in one minute, 41.33 seconds for the two-lap race, improving on the 1:42.61 he ran in Monaco in July. His world mark set last year is 1:41.01.

World record

Rudisha cruised to victory at the Worlds in Daegu, South Korea, last month in 1:43.91.

He has always performed well in Rieti, setting a then-African record of 1:42.01 in 2009.

Rudisha had two pacesetters and was on pace for another world record until he slowed in the final straight, finishing with the fifth fastest 800 run of all time.

"The first 600 metres I felt very good, then maybe I paid the price for the fast pace during the first half of the race," Rudisha said, adding he will race at the Diamond League finals in Brussels on Friday, then in Milan two days later.

Eight world records have been set at the Raul Guidobaldi stadium over the years. There were none yesterday, but there also was a season best in the 1,500 as Asbel Kiprop, another Kenyan world champion, ran 3:30.46 to shave a hundredth off Silas Kiplagat's time in Monaco.