Gay wins 100m in London

London - Tyson Gay got a taste of the tough conditions the world's best sprinters may face at the Olympics next month while winning the 100m in 10.03 seconds at the London Diamond League meeting on Friday.

The American's planned showdown with former world record holder Asafa Powell failed to materialise when the Jamaican decided not to risk aggravating a groin injury.

With the rain lashing the track during the evening and the temperature plummeting to almost winter levels, it began to look a sensible move with the Olympic 100m heats only three weeks and a day away.

So Gay, whose 9.69 seconds personal best makes him the second-fastest man ever over the distance behind Usain Bolt had to content himself with beating a field still packed with American and Jamaican sub-10 second talent and gaining some more experience of racing in a London "summer"

In his heat Gay was sluggish out of the blocks and had to work hard to force his way into second place in a blanket finish, his 10.15 the same as heat winner Michael Frater of Jamaica.

It was a similar story in the final as Frater made the early running.

Gay was a little clumsy out of the blocks again but smoother into his pickup. He had to work hard on his concentration running in the shadow of giant compatriot Ryan Bailey, who will also run in the Olympic 100 along with U.S. trials winner and 2004 Olympic champion Justin Gatlan,

Gay, easy to spot in his bright orange vest, maintained his form well though and forced his way through to record a satisfying victory into a 1.3 metres headwind ahead of Bailey (10.09) and Jamaican Nesta Carter (10.13), who just edged Frater.

It was not a performance that will startle Bolt or world champion Yohan Blake but it gave the 29-year-old American something of a headstart in dealing with the unseasonal conditions the trio could encounter.

"I'm glad I ran. My groin is a little tender but it held up," he said, en route to a sit-down with a bag of ice.

"It was good to get the race in and I got another win under my belt which gives me a little bit of confidence going into The Games.

"It felt pretty good just to get the victory and if the wind had been in our favour I think we all would have run under 10 seconds."

He accepted too that his start was still not there. "Yep, it's something I'm working on but I've got three weeks to get it together," he said.

Gay, who holds the Crystal Palace meeting record with the 9.78 he posted two years ago, said he was disappointed not to face Powell but understood his rival's decision.

"I know what it's like to have a groin injury," said the American, who underwent hip surgery last year after a season of nagging groin and hamstring problems. "I wish him all the best and a speedy recovery."

Having failed to make the 100 final of the 2008 Games when not fully fit, Gay is desperate to take on his rivals in peak condition this time.

Asked if he could beat the Jamaican favourites, he said. "I hope so, that's the plan anyway."

Results on Friday from the London Grand Prix, a Diamond League athletics meet at Crystal Palace (distances in metres):

Men

100 - 1, Tyson Gay, United States, 10.03 seconds. 2, Ryan Bailey, United States, 10.09. 3, Nesta Carter, Jamaica, 10.13. 4, Michael Frater, Jamaica, 10.15. 5, Michael Rodgers, United States, 10.19. 6, Trell Kimmons, United States, 10.19. 7, Kemar Hyman, Cayman Islands, 10.25.

110 hurdles - 1, Aries Merritt, United States, 12.93 seconds. 2, Jason Richardson, United States, 13.06. 3, Ryan Wilson, United States, 13.18. 4, Jeff Porter, United States, 13.32. 5, Joel Brown, United States, 13.39. 6, Antwon Hicks, United States, 13.46.

400 hurdles - 1, Javier Culson, Puerto Rico, 47.78 seconds. 2, David Greene, Britain, 48.10. 3, Angelo Taylor, United States, 48.43. 4, Jack Green, Britain, 48.60. 5, Felix Sanchez, Dominican Republic, 49.68. 6, Michael Tinsley, United States, 49.86. 7, Justin Gaymon, United States, 50.28.

Long jump - 1 Mitchell Watt, Australia, 8.28 meters. 2, Godfrey Khotso Mokoena , South Africa, 8.24. 3, J.J. Jegede, Britain, 8.11. 4, Chris Tomlinson, Britain, 8.06. 5, Eusebio Caceres, Spain, 7.89. 6, Irving Saladino, Panama, 7.87. 7, Ignisious Gaisah, Ghana, 7.86. 8, Alyn Camara , Germany, 7.79, 9, Henry Frayne , Australia, 7.78.

Pole vault - 1, Romain Mesnil, France, 5.66 meters. 2, Bjorn Otto , Germany, 5.66. 3, Raphael Holzdeppe, Germany, 5.66. 4, Konstantinos Filippidis, Greece, 5.56. 5, Karsten Dilla, Germany, 5.40. 5, Renaud Lavillenie, France, 5.40. 7, Andrew Sutcliffe, Britain, 5.40. 8, Steve Lewis, Britain, 5.40.

Discus - 1, Gerd Kanter, Estonia, 64.85 meters. 2, Virgilijus Alekna, Lithuania, 63.71. 3, Lawrence Okoye, Britain, 63.33. 4, Erik Cadee, Netherlands, 63.31. 5, Yennifer Frank Casanas, Spain, 63.23. 6, Rutger Smith, Netherlands, 61.93. 7, Abdul Buhari, Britain, 60.25. 8, Brett Morse, Britain, 59.87, 9, Ben Harradine, Australia, 57.34, 10, Scott Martin, Australia, 55.13.

Women

200 - 1, Charonda Williams, United States, 22.75 seconds. 2, Anneisha Mclaughlin, Jamaica, 22.81. 3, Bianca Knight, United States, 23.00. 4, Aleen Bailey, Jamaica, 23.18. 5, Myriam Soumare, France, 23.19. 6, Sherone Simpson, Jamaica, 23.20. 7, Margaret Adeoye, Britain, 23.36. 8, Debbie Ferguson-Mckenzie, Bahamas, 23.89.

1500 - 1, Maryam Yusuf Jamal, Bahrain, 4 minutes 6.78 seconds. 2, Jenny Simpson, United States, 4:07.76. 3, Anna Pierce, United States, 4:08.06. 4, Laura Weightman, Britain, 4:08.19. 5, Morgan Uceny, United States, 4:08.22. 6, Shannon Rowbury, United States, 4:08.63. 7, Lisa Dobriskey, Britain, 4:08.83. 8, Kaila Mcknight, Australia, 4:10.49. 9, Zoe Buckman, Australia, 4:12.82. 10, Nancy Jebet Langat, Kenya, 4:13.56. 11, Hannah England, Britain, 4:14.45.

5000 - 1, Vivian Cheruiyot, Kenya, 14 minutes 48.86 seconds. 2, Mercy Cherono, Kenya, 14:49.26. 3, Linet Masai, Kenya, 14:53.93. 4, Veronica Nyaruai, Kenya, 14:57.75. 5, Emebet Anteneh, Ethiopia, 15:02.51. 6, Julia Bleasdale, Britain, 15:10.06. 7, Magdalene Masai, Kenya, 15:28.64. 8, Katrina Wootton, Britain, 15:35.45. 9, Eilish Mccolgan, Britain, 15:44.62. 10, Eloise Wellings, Australia, 15:47.81. 11, Kate Avery, Britain, 15:48.32. 12 Charlotte Purdue, Britain, 15:51.90.

400 hurdles - 1, Perri Shakes-Drayton, Britain, 53.77 seconds. 2, Irina Davydova, Russia, 54.63. 3, Kaliese Spencer, Jamaica, 55.08. 4, Melaine Walker, Jamaica, 55.45. 5, Eilidh Child, Britain, 55.91. 6, T'erea Brown, United States, 56.03. 7, Tiffany Williams, United States, 56.72. 8, Nickiesha Wilson, Jamaica.

High jump - 1, Chaunte Lowe, United States, 2 meters. 2, Tia Hellebaut, Belgium 1.97. 3, Ruth Beitia, Spain, 1.94. 4, Anna Chicherova, Russia, 1.94. 5. Emma Green Tregaro, Sweden, 1.91. 6, Airine Palsyte, Lithuania, 1.91. 7, Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch, Germany, 1.87. 8, Tonje Angelsenm, Norway, 1.87, 9, Isobel Pooley, Britain, 1.83.