Kirani James runs fastest 400m
In a battle between the last two Olympic champions, James beat
American LaShawn Merritt by 0.14 seconds.Olympic champion Kirani James
produced a hot performance in cold weather on Friday when he clocked the
fastest time of the year to win the 400 metres at the Drake Relays in
Iowa.
The 23-year-old Grenadian showed he was on track to defend his title
in Rio in August by clocking 44.08 seconds in swirling winds at the
meeting in Des Moines.In a battle between the last two Olympic
champions, James beat American LaShawn Merritt by 0.14 seconds.
James' time was not far off the 43.94 he ran to win in London four
years ago, when he made history as the first ever Olympic champion from
the tiny Caribbean island nation of barely 100,000 people.That time
remains his personal best.
"It just shows that I'm on a great track to do some great things this
year," James said after Friday's race.
The 23-year-old finished third in the 400 at last year's world
championships in Beijing behind South African Wayde van Niekerk.
|