Liu times season's quickest in 110m hurdles

SHANGHAI (AFP) –

Chinese 110m hurdler Liu Xiang, seen here during a press conference ahead of Shanghai’s Diamond League athletics meet, on May 18. Liu won the Shanghai Diamond League meet 110m hurdles in a season-leading 12.97sec as he strengthened his bid to reclaim the Olympic title.

China’s Liu Xiang put himself in pole position for the Olympic 110m hurdles Saturday as he beat the world outdoor and indoor champions with a season-leading 12.97sec at the Shanghai Diamond League meet.

On a wet track, the Athens 2004 gold-medallist won it comfortably from America’s David Oliver and world outdoor champion Jason Richardson, before ripping off his vest in an excited celebration in front of his home fans.

“I am extremely happy. It was a wonderful race, what everyone wanted to see,” said Shanghai native Liu. “I hope to keep this form and give full play to my training. My dream is to stand on the Olympic track.”

Oliver timed 13.13 and Richardson clocked 13.16, while world indoor champion Aries Merritt was fourth. But with just two months to go, Liu now looks like the man to beat in London.

Liu became China’s first ever Olympic track champion at Athens 2004 but four years later, he caused national angst when he dramatically pulled out injured in front of a packed Bird’s Nest Stadium at Beijing 2008.

At last year’s world championships, Liu took silver behind Richardson in a highly contentious race after he was obstructed by Olympic title-holder Dayron Robles, who was later disqualified.

This year, Liu beat Robles over 60m in February and was runner-up to Merritt at the world indoor championships in March. And he was an easy winner earlier this month at a World Challenge meet in Japan.

In other results, Jamaican Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown beat America’s Carmelita Jeter in the women’s 100m, while former world record-holder Asafa Powell raised his hopes for London by winning the men’s 100m in 10.02sec.

Powell, beaten by a resurgent Justin Gatlin in this month’s opening Diamond League meeting in Doha, timed six hundredths of a second quicker than America’s Michael Rodgers, who was recently hit with a nine-month, retroactive drug ban.

Powell, 29, has vowed to go “all out” at London 2012 as he bids to erase his reputation of shrinking on the big stage. But he is expected to be outshone by compatriots Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake, the Olympic and world champions.

“It was a good result. Technically it was good. We did a lot of work in Jamaica,” said Powell. “It’s still two months to the Olympics. I’m satisfied. Shanghai is a good meet, the crowd is fantastic… I’m excited.”

But there was heartbreak for Australia’s Olympic pole-vault champion Steve Hooker, who bombed out after failing his first three jumps — a serious setback as he tries to battle back from an alarming crisis of confidence.

The fortunes of Hooker, who has also been hit by injury, sank so low that he was forced to qualify for London at a specially sanctioned meet held in front of just 150 supporters at his own, purpose-built training facility in Perth.

Hooker missed three jumps at 5.30 metres. China’s Yang Yansheng won the event with 5.65 with German Bjorn Otto second. Otto holds the season-leading vault of 5.82.

Ethiopian distance legend Kenenisa Bekele also had an evening to forget as the Olympic champion finished fifth in the men’s 5,000m, nearly four seconds behind the winner, fellow Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet, who timed 13min 11.00sec.