SHANGHAI, May 18: Olympic champion Kirani James powered to victory against his controversial predecessor and his main rivals from London 2012 in the 400 metres at Shanghai’s Diamond League meet on Saturday.

James, from Grenada, raced ahead on the final bend to edge 2008 Olympic champion, the US’s LaShawn Merritt, into second place.

Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic, the silver medallist from last summer’s Games, was third, more than a second behind James, who crossed the line at a season’s best 44.02 seconds.

The bronze medallist from London, Trinidad and Tobago’s Lalonde Gordon, finished in fifth place.

Merritt would have been well known to fans in a damp Shanghai Stadium after he claimed gold at in China’s showcase Olympics in Beijing.

But he has endured a torrid time after the 2008 Games, serving a 21-month ban for a positive doping test that he blamed on a “male-enhancement product”.

He successfully challenged the IOC’s ban on former drug users to compete in London, only to pull out injured during the heats.

“Considering it was my first 400 metres this year, I am still getting familiar with the game,” he said after the race. “So I feel not bad about the result. It’s a long season and it’s just beginning.”

In another re-run between gold and silver medallists from London 2012, Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce claimed victory in the 100 metres ahead of rival Carmelita Jeter, with the American settling for third place. Nigerian Blessing Okagbare finished second.

Fraser-Pryce claimed a season’s best time of 10.93 seconds in Shanghai, the second meet of the Diamond League calendar.

“I feel very relaxed. I came here to win and just see how I would do” she said after her win.

The double Olympic champion also said she would race in both the 100 and 200 metres at the World Championships in Moscow in August.

“I am planning to do both. I will do the best I can and God will do the rest,” she said.

Jason Richardson of the United States took gold in the 110-metre hurdles, crossing in 13.23 to edge Ryan Wilson and Xie Wenjun at the line.

London Olympics champion Aries Merritt pulled up before the first hurdle with what he later said was leg cramp.

Leading results:

Men’s: 200 metres: 1. Warren Weir (Jamaica) 20.18 seconds; 2. Justin Gatlin (US) 20.21; 3. Jason Young (Jamaica) 20.22. 400 metres: 1. Kirani James (Grenada) 44.02 seconds; 2. LaShawn Merritt (US) 44.60; 3. Luguelin Santos (Dominican Republic) 45.11. 1,500 metres: 1. Asbel Kiprop (Kenya) 3:32.39; 2. Gebremedhin Gebremariam (Ethiopia) 3:32.43; 3. Collins Cheboi (Kenya) 3:32.96. 110-metre hurdles: 1. Jason Richardson (US) 13.23 seconds; 2. Ryan Wilson (US) 13.25; 3. Xie Wenjun (China) 13.28. 3,000-metre steeplechase: 1. Conseslus Kipruto (Kenya) 8:01.16; 2. Paul Kipsiele Koech (Kenya) 8:02.63; 3. Hillary Kipsang Yego (Kenya) 8:03.57. High jump: 1. Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar) 2.33 metres; 2. Bohdan Bondarenko (Ukraine) 2.33; 3. Zhang Guowei (China) 2.27. Long jump: 1. Li Jinzhe (China) 8.34 metres; 2. Aleksandr Menkov (Russia) 8.31; 3. Greg Rutherford (Britain) 8.08. Discus throw: 1. Piotr Malachowski (Poland) 67.34 metres; 2. Gerd Kanter (Estonia) 63.14; 3. Robert Urbanek (Poland) 62.85. Javelin throw: 1. Tero Pitkaemaeki (Finland) 87.60 metres; 2. Vitezslav Vesely (Czech Republic) 86.67; 3. Dmitri Tarabin (Russia) 85.36. Women’s: 100 metres: 1. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) 10.93 seconds; 2. Blessing Okagbare (Nigeria) 11.00; 3. Carmelita Jeter (US) 11.08. 800 metres: 1. Francine Niyonsaba (Burundi) 2:00.33; 2. Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei (Kenya) 2:01.28; 3. Malika Akkaoui (Morocco) 2:01.49. 5,000 metres: 1. Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) 14:45.92; 2. Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) 14:47.76; 3. Viola Jelagat Kibiwot (Kenya) 14:48.29. 400-metre hurdles: 1. Zuzana Hejnova (Czech Republic) 53.79 seconds; 2. Angela Morosanu (Romania) 53.85; 3. Yadisleidis Pedroso (Italy) 54.54. Pole vault: 1. Elena Isinbayeva (Russia) 4.70 metres; 2. Mary Saxer (US) 4.60; 3. Silke Spiegelburg (Germany) 4.55. Triple jump: 1. Caterine Ibargueen (Colombia) 14.69 metres; 2. Olha Saladuha (Ukraine) 14.43; 3. Irina Gumenyuk (Russia) 14.02. Shot put: 1. Christina Schwanitz (Germany) 20.20 metres; 2. Gong Lijiao (China) 19.73; 3. Michelle Carter (US) 18.83.—Agencies