Lopes-Schliep captured the gold in London

Lopes-Schliep captured the gold in London


London, United Kingdom, August 13, 2010

Canada's Priscilla Lopes-Schliep won the women's 100-metre hurdles in her best performance at the London Grand Prix track and field meet on Friday, August 13, 2010

Lopes-Schliep the Whitby, Ontario, hurdler raced to an impressive 12.52 seconds, a meet record for the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist. Lopes-Schliep also posted the fastest time of the season.

Australian Sally Pearson finished second in 12.61 while American and world indoor champion LoLo Jones came third in 12:66.

The Canadian was elated. "I feel that my mental strength gave me the edge. I just felt very good," Lopes-Schliep said. "My warm up went good, I just knew it was going to be a brilliant day." she said.

Perdita Felicien of Pickering, Ontario, finished a distant seventh in 12.96.

Facing possibly the deepest field in all of track, Lopes-Schliep got off to a strong start but remained behind Pearson, the Olympic silver medalist. Undaunted, the Canadian began to make up ground before passing the Aussie for good in the latter part of the race.

The victory puts Lopes-Schliep into a first-place tie with Jones (14 points) in the Diamond League standings.

Tyson Gay revs up

With world record holder Usain Bolt grounded for the rest of the season, and fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell withdrawing from the meet on Thursday because of back and hamstring injuries, it was Tyson Gay's opportunity to captivate the English crowd.

And the American did, running 100 metres in a season best 9.78 seconds. What makes Gay's display more remarkable is that he blazed along the track despite cold, damp conditions and a groin injury, which might also put the rest of his season in doubt.

"I wasn't necessarily sending a message to Asafa and Usain," said Gay. "I was just running my own race. I think there's more to come.

"It's great to be on top of the world — that's important to me. This is not the best shape I've ever been in because I'm still dealing with a few little injuries."

The American speedster's result is better than the previous 2010 best of 9.82 seconds run by both Bolt and Powell, and his own season best of 9.84 in Stockholm, when he ran past a hurt Bolt.