Crawford targets world mark after win in Japan
Alastair Himmer
Shawn Crawford took aim at the world 100 metres record after beating fellow American Tim Montgomery at the Japan Grand Prix in a personal best of 9.94 seconds on Saturday.
He found an extra gear in the final 30 metres at Osaka's Expo Stadium to win by one hundredth of a second.
Crawford, who took bronze in the 200 metres at the World Championships last summer, said he was confident of breaking Maurice Greene's mark of 9.79 this year.
"I am focusing on the 100 this year and I am planning to run 9.72. Today was a personal best which is a great stepping stone," said Crawford.
"I think it is a realistic goal while I am running this well."
Montgomery, who took silver behind Greene in 9.85 at the World Championships in Edmonton, blamed his defeat on being "too relaxed" coming into the second IAAF Grand Prix event of the season.
"I have never, ever, been caught by any sprinter before today. I never thought Shawn would be a big threat so it was certainly a wake-up call," he said.
Veteran American Antonio Pettigrew won the 400 metres in a respectable 44.72 ahead of Gregory Haughton of Jamaica (44.82), who pipped him for the bronze medal in Edmonton.
Moroccan Abdulkader Hachlaf won the 1,500 metres in three minutes 40.36 seconds to make it two wins out of two after his victory in the season-opening IAAF grand prix event in Rio De Janeiro last weekend.
World and Olympic champion Szymon Ziolkowski showed some early-season rust as the Pole placed fifth in the hammer throw, won by Hungarian Adrian Annus with 80.10 metres.
In the women's competition, Sri Lankan Susanthika Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka won the 100 metres in 11.11 seconds with Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas runner-up in 11.17.
Marathon world record holder Catherine Ndereba, meanwhile, said she would opt for the 10,000 rather than the 5,000 metres at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in July after finishing 10th in the shorter distance, more than a minute behind winner Benita Willis of Australia.
Willis clocked 15:01.44 with Kenyan Leah Malot runner-up in 15:04.16.
Ndereba, who ran 16:03.26, said: "I have a lot to do to get down to 15 minutes in the 5,000. It was a good test but I am 100 percent sure now I will run the 10,000."
