Cuban Robles gives further warning to Liu Xiang

By Patrick Vignal

PARIS (Reuters) - Cuban Dayron Robles demonstrated once again the struggle Olympic champion Liu Xiang will face at next month's Beijing Games by clocking the joint second fastest time ever for the men's 110 meters hurdles on Friday.

Robles, whose battle with Olympic champion and former world record holder Liu promises to be one of the highlights of the athletics in Beijing, clocked 12.88 seconds on a cloudy but still evening at the Paris Golden league meeting.

The Cuban's time was a hundredth of a second off the world record he set last month in Ostrava and equaled the previous best mark of 12.88 Liu set in Lausanne in 2006.

In Liu's absence, Robles was in a class of his own in the French capital. Terrence Trammell took second place in 13.19 and Antwon Hicks was third in 13.27.

"I felt very good, easy," Robles told reporters. "I'm just waiting for the Olympics. Will I break the world record again this year? I don't know."

Trammell paid tribute to Robles, saying: "You have to take your hat off to him, he's really in a groove."

Jeremy Wariner had earlier suggested he could retain his Olympic 400 meters title when he clocked the fastest time of the year.

Wariner entered the final straight level with fellow American LaShawn Merritt and stepped up a gear in the last 100 meters to win relatively comfortably in 43.86 seconds, beating the previous year's best of 43.98 he had set last month in Oslo.

WARINER STATEMENT

"Today I ran a lot better, felt better and made a statement going into the Olympics," Wariner said after breaking the 44-second barrier for the second time this year. "This is a pretty good way to get ready for the Olympics."

Merritt, who had beaten Wariner twice this season, had to be content with second place in 44.35, with Christopher Brown of the Bahamas finishing third in 44.76.

Kenyan teenager Pamela Jelimo stayed on course for the Golden League jackpot with an easy 800 meters win in a personal best one minute 54.97 seconds.

Jelimo, 18, set a world junior record to claim the fourth of the six series wins needed for a share of the $1 million prize.

Slovakia's Lucia Klocova came a distant second in 1:58.51, narrowly beating Kenyan Janeth Jepkosgei, who took third place in 1:58.52.

The only other athlete still in the hunt for the jackpot is Croatia's Blanka Vlasic, who recorded her fourth victory from as many meetings in the showcase series by winning the high jump with a best mark of 2.01 meters.