World record-holder Usain Bolt easily won the 100m at the Areva Meeting outside Paris on Friday but just missed out on Tyson Gay's season-best time. The Jamaican, gearing up for next month's world championships in Berlin, won in 9.79 seconds. “I had a bad start, but I ran a good time,” Bolt said. Gay timed 9.77 last week at the Golden Gala in Rome. Daniel Bailey of Antigua and Barbuda was second to Bolt in 9.91, and Yohan Blake of Jamaica was third in 9.93. Also on Friday, 400m runner Sanya Richards of the United States, Ethiopian long-distance runner Kenenisa Bekele, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbaeva and Jamaican sprinter Kerron Stewart in the 100m all won their events. They stayed on course for a share of the $1 million Golden League jackpot at the end of the season after four legs of the six-leg Golden League. Bekele was impressive as he dominated rival Bernard Lagat in the 3,000, surging ahead by 30 meters with three laps to go, and extending the gap even further by the end. He won in 7 minutes, 28.64 seconds, while Lagat finished in 7:33.15. Richards also won in style.She may share the jackpot with Stewart, who cruised home in the 100m in 10.99, well ahead of Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas. Richards beat second-place Novlene Williams-Mills of Jamaica by over one second, finishing in 49.34 seconds. That took Richards below 50sec for the 37th time, breaking Marita Koch's record for most performances under 50. In damp and slightly windy conditions, world record-holder Isinbaeva was way short of her best, but she still did enough to win with a vault of 4.65 meters. Also, Jeremy Wariner of the United States won the men's 400, easing up in the last 20 meters as he cruised over the line ahead of Christopher Brown of Bahrain. Wariner won in 45.28 seconds, 0.16 seconds ahead of Brown. “It's not where I wanted, time wise. But I think I executed right,” Wariner said. Dexter Faulk of the United States won the men's 110m hurdles in 13.14, with Dwight Thomas of Jamaica in second with a personal best of 13.30. Ladji Doucoure wanted to give the home fans at Stade de France something to cheer about, but the 2005 world champion could finish only eighth. Ahmed Ismail of Sudan won the men's 800m, and Renaud Lavillenie clinched the men's pole vault. There was further success for American women with Dawn Harper winning the 100m hurdles in 12.68. Michelle Perry was second and Virginia Powell was third to complete a podium sweep for the Americans. Anna Jesien of Poland followed up her win in Rome last week with victory in the women's 400m hurdles, just beating Melanie Walker of Jamaica - whose season best of 54.47 put her .10 behind Jesien. Tiffany Williams of the United States also clocked a season's best of 54.72 to take third place. Croatian Blanka Vlasic claimed the high jump title with a best of 1.99m in a competition again hampered by the adverse conditions.
