RIETI (Italy), Sept 10: Asafa Powell cruised to victory in the 100 metres final of the Rieti IAAF Grand Prix in Italy on Sunday after breaking his own world record in his heat.

The Jamaican set the record of 9.74 seconds and then was back on the track some 90 minutes later to run 9.78 seconds in the final.

It was an emphatic return for Powell, who was a disappointing third at the Osaka world championships last month behind American rival Tyson Gay and Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas.

Powell’s compatriot Michael Frater came second with a time of 10.03 seconds and Norway’s Jaysuma Saidy Ndure was third with 10.10.

Irving Saladino had an easy time in the long jump thanks in part to the absence of injured Italian Andrew Howe, the Rieti athlete who pushed the Panamanian all the way in Osaka. The world champion won with a leap of 8.31 metres.

Other 2007 world champions who won their events were Kenya’s Janeth Jepkosgei in the women’s 800 metres, Russia’s Yekaterina Volkova in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase and Cuba’s Yargelis Savigne in the women’s triple jump.

In the hammer, Japan’s Olympic champion Koji Murofushi beat world champion Ivan Tikhon of Belarus by one centimetre with a throw of 82.62 metres.

Russia’s Anna Chicherova dashed the crowd’s hopes of seeing a home winner by clearing 1.98 metres in high jump, three centimetres more than Italy’s Antonietta Di Martino, the woman she shared silver with in Japan.

Results:

MEN’S:

100 metres: 1. Asafa Powell (Jamaica) 9.78 seconds; 2. Michael Frater (Jamaica) 10.03; 3. Jaysuma Saidy (Norway) 10.10.

400 metres: 1. Tyler Christopher (Canada) 44.94 seconds; 2. Ricardo Chambers (Jamaica) 45.61; 3. Alleyne Francique (Grenada) 45.75.

800 metres: 1. Belal Mansoor Ali (Bahrain) one minute 44.02 seconds; 2. Youssef Saad Kamel (Bahrain) 1:44.11; 3. Alfred Kirwa (Kenya) 1:44.50.

1500 metres: 1. Juan Carlos Higuero (Spain) three minutes 34.78 seconds; 2. Suleiman Simotwo (Kenya) 3:35.19; 3. Christian Obrist (Italy) 3:35.32.

3000 metres: 1. Thomas Longosiwa (Kenya) seven minutes 32.79 seconds; 2. Yusuf Biwott (Kenya) 7:33.39; 3. Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (Kenya) 7:34.07.

400-metre hurdles: 1. Marek Plawgo (Poland) 49.07 seconds; 2. Felix Sanchez (Dominican Republic) 49.12; 3. Kenneth Ferguson (US) 49.51.

Long jump: 1. Irving Saladino (Panama) 8.31 metres; 2. Aleksey Lukashevich (Ukraine) 7.97; 3. Miguel Pate (US) 7.93.

Pole vault: 1. Denis Yurchenko (Ukraine) 5.72 metres; 2. Alex Averbukh (Israel) 5.65; 3. German Chiaraviglio (Argentina) 5.65.

Hammer throw: 1. Koji Murofushi (Japan) 82.62 metres; 2. Ivan Tikhon (Belarus) 82.61; 3. Vadim Devyatovskiy (Belarus) 79.59.

WOMEN’S:

100 metres: 1. Sally McLellan (Australia) 11.30 seconds; 2. Stephanie Durst (US) 11.37; 3. Debbie Ferguson (Bahamas) 11.38.

200 metres: 1. Lauryn Williams (US) 22.76 seconds; 2. Stephanie Durst (US) 22.87; 3. Cydonie Mothersill (Cayman Islands) 22.90.

400 metres: 1. Shericka Williams (Jamaica) 51.08 seconds; 2. Natalya Antyukh (Russia) 51.37; 3. Tatyana Veshkurova (Russia) 51.58.

800 metres: 1. Janeth Jepkosgei (Kenya) one minute 56.29 seconds; 2. Svetlana Usovich (Belarus) 1:58.68; 3. Maite Martinez (Spain) 1:59.29.

1500 metres: 1. Olga Yegorova (Russia) four minutes 03.27 seconds; 2. Jelagat Kibiwatt (Kenya) 4:03.63; 3. Yuliya Chizhenko (Russia) 4:04.52.

3000 metres: 1. Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya) eight minutes 30.25 seconds; 2. Prisca Jepleting (Kenya) 8:30.70; 3. Kara Goucher (US) 8:34.99.

400-metre hurdles: 1. Anna Jesien (Poland) 54.78 seconds; 2. Natasha Danvers-Smith (Britain) 55.03; 3. Yuliya Pechonkina (Russia) 55.31.

3000-metre steeplechase: 1. Yekaterina Volkova (Russia) nine minute 26.80 seconds; 2. Cristina Casandra (Romania) 9:30.39; 3. Roisin McGettigan (Ireland) 9:37.94.

High jump: 1. Anna Chicherova (Russia) 1.98 metres; 2. Antonietta Di Martino (Italy) 1.95; 3. Dora Gyoerffy (Hungary) 1.89.

Triple jump: 1. Yargelis Savigne (Cuba) 14.92 metres; 2. Tatyana Lebedeva (Russia) 14.75; 3. Anna Pyatykh (Russia) 14.71.—Reuters