Liège, Belgium – The Province of Liège meeting suffered badly from cold and rainy conditions. Surprisingly enough the best performances were set in sprinting events. American Travis Padgett blasted through the 100m in 10.13 while his compatriot Joel Brown delivered immaculately in the 110m Hurdles in 13.29. Another solid sprinting effort came from Nia Ali from the USA. She won the 100m Hurdles in 12.84.

Padgett impressive

Padgett ran the third fastest time in the semifinals of the US Championships this year but unfortunately had to withdraw from the final. The stocky American proved his excellent form tonight in Liège when he came blasting through in the 100m. The temperature was not higher than 12 degrees Celsius and still Padgett finished in 10.13, well ahead of Darvis Patton (USA) in 10.26.

“I’m happy with my race today”, said Padgett. “With the guys next to me in the blocks I knew I was going to get in trouble. Darvis is always very fast off the blocks and I had to work hard to catch up. I’m confident now and in the next weeks I want to prove that I’m a consistent sub-10.00 sprinter.”

Brown aiming for faster times

He looked a bit sluggish in the start but after the second hurdle Brown was running smoothly and relaxed. He was rewarded with a strong 13.29, beating Tyron Akins into second in 13.50.

“I couldn’t make it to the World Championships team for the USA, so I’m on the European circuit to run as fast races as I can. The more you race, the better you become. This was a pretty good one for me in these chilly conditions. It is my aim to run 13.1 this year,” said Brown who is already credited with 13.20 at the Samsung Diamond League meeting in Oslo.

2009 World Champion Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados made no impression and came in fifth in 13.67.

Crowd-warming victories for Ali and Lomong

A big roar went through the stadium when Nia Ali crossed the line victoriously in the 100m Hurdles.  The American is a class act in the effortless way that she set 12.84 in the cold and the wind.

“I enjoy my sports and I always try my best when I compete. It was an amazing line up today. When you come to Europe you race against girls that you don’t know and that you’ve never competed against. That is nice and challenging. My goals lie with the World University Games in China in August.”

The Men’s 3000m turned out to become the best distance event of the evening. It came down to a close battle with nine men entering the final lap in a compact group. In the final straight two Americans emerged and it was Lomong who ultimately held off Jordan McNamara who tried to pass on the inside. Lomong clocked 7:50.36.

On the infield Igor Janik from Poland threw the Javelin 81.13m, while Russian Dmitry Starodubtsev was the most courageous Pole Vaulter with 5.50m.

Ivo Hendrix for the IAAF