Jamaican Andrew Riley crashed the Olympic 110m hurdles reunion on Friday, edging London Games gold medalist and world record-holder Aries Merritt at the Drake Relays athletics meeting. Riley, a 24-year-old who recently completed a US collegiate athletics career, won in 13.43sec, with Merritt settling for second in 13.48 in a race that featured all three medalists from last year's London Games.
"It means a lot," Riley said of the triumph in the talent-packed field. "Hurdles is one of those events where we don't duck and dodge each other like the 100 meters. "In the hurdles we race each other week-in and week-out so a field like you just saw today you'll see many times again this season, which is a really good thing for the sport and hopefully people can see the hurdles as a marquee event."
Merritt, who followed up his Olympic gold medal by setting a world record of 12.80sec at Brussels in September, pronounced himself satisfied with the race, especially since his training has been hindered by an injury picked up in the indoor season. Merritt said the unfavourable wind of 3.2m/sec made for a messy race. Olympic silver medalist Jason Richardson was disqualified for a false start and Olympic bronze medalist Hansle Americans Michael Tinsley in the 400m hurdles and Jenny Simpson in the 1500m and Cuba's Yarisley Silva in the pole vault posted world-leading performances for the season.
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