Fraser, Walker win in Stuttgart

STUTTGART, Germany (CMC):

Jamaican Olympic champions Shelly-Ann Fraser and Melaine Walker emphasized their outstanding form this year with fine wins, as the sixth IAAF/VTB Bank World Athletics Final ended yesterday.

Fraser outsped her rivals to land the women's 100 metres in 10.94 seconds and Walker took the women's 400 hurdles with authority to give Jamaica three wins at the two-day meet.

Asafa Powell had won the men's 100 on Saturday.

In a competitive women's 100-metre field, Fraser displayed her trademark early race speed and surged to victory, chased by fellow Jamaican Kerron Stewart.

Impressive time

The winning time was impressive, considering the chilly conditions, but Fraser was aiming for an even faster time.

"I really wanted to win this one and I had even hoped for a sub 10.90 time," Fraser told reporters.

Stewart, the Olympic silver medallist, clocked 11.06 for second, the same time recorded by American Marshavet Hooker in third.

Bahamians Chandra Sturrup (11.23) and Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie (11.25) got seventh and eighth, respectively.

Walker dominated the one-lap hurdles for a winning time of 54.06 seconds.

Ukraine's Anastasiya Rabchenyuk (54.92) and American Tiffany Williams (55.16) were a distant second and third, respectively.

The Jamaica-born American Sanya Richards completed a fine double.

A losing 400-metre favourite at the Beijing Olympics last month, Richards made no mistake here yesterday in the one-lap run and stopped the clock in a winning time of 50.41 seconds, just a day after landing the 200 metres.

She defeated Britain's new Olympic champion, Christine Ohuruogu (50.83).

Third and fifth place

Jamaican Novlene Williams was third in 51.30 seconds with her teammates Shericka Williams, the Olympic silver medallist, getting fifth in 51.55 and Shereefa Lloyd (51.86) eighth.

The Kenyan 18-year-old sensation, Pamela Jelimo, won the women's 800 metres in a championship record one minute 56.23 seconds ahead of her teammate, Janeth Jepkosgei (1:58.41).

Britain's Marilyn Okoro (1:58.64) and Jamaican Kenia Sinclair posted one of her quicker times this year for fourth in 1:58.85.

There was also a fourth place finish for Trinidad and Tobago's Cleopatra Borel-Brown (18.50 metres) in the women's shot put that New Zealand's Olympic champion Valerie Vili won in 19.69 metres.

Ethiopia's Meserat Defar joined Richards as a double winner. On Saturday she had taken the women's 5000 metres and yesterday she captured the 3,000 metres in eight minutes 43.60 seconds.

In men's action, Antiguan Pan Am Games champion Brendan Christian (20.61) and Jamaican Chris Williams (20.66) got third and fourth in the 200 metres, won by Stephane Buckland, of Mauritius, in 20.57 seconds.