Ahoure wins at Millrose, Richards struggles
Ahoure is working toward the World Athletics Championships at Beijing from August 22-30.
NEW YORK (AFP) - Double world sprint runner-up Murielle Ahoure won the 60 meters Saturday at the 108th Millrose Games while Sanya Richards Ross struggled with a 400m defeat at the US indoor meet.
Ahoure, a 27-year-old from Ivory Coast who finished second in the 100 and 200 at the 2013 Moscow worlds and second in the 60 at the 2012 and 2014 indoor worlds, captured the Millrose crown in 7.05 seconds with Trinidad and Tobago s Michelle Lee Ahye second in 7.11.
"I m really excited," Ahoure said. "I m really confident. It s just training for me to see where I m at."
Ahoure is working toward the World Athletics Championships at Beijing from August 22-30, as were many of the competitors, including Richards Ross, the reigning Olympic 400m champion.
The Jamaican-born American pulled up in the homestretch after seizing the lead in the final curve and watched Phyllis Francis pass her 10 strides from the finish line to win the 400 in 53.14, .60 ahead of Richards Ross.
"I just knew I had to feel the race out," said Francis, typically an 800m runner. "It worked out well for me."
Richards Ross said she was not injured, blaming the poor finish on training that is geared for the outdoor season and not her lone planned indoor performance of the year.
"I m great," Richards Ross said. "I didnt tweak my training much. It s my only race indoors so it s a little tough but I ll be ready for the outdoor season."
Marvin Bracy, a collegiate American football receiver who turned to track, won the men s 60 in 6.53 with St. Kitts and Nevis sprinter Antoine Adams outleaning China s Su Bingtian -- the reigning Asian 100m champion -- for second sat the line, both finishing in 6.61.
Kenya s Sally Kipyego won the women s 3,000 in 8:41.72, edging compatriot Betsy Saina by 1.47 seconds, while international competitors took two field event crowns, Greek women s pole vaulter Ekaterina Stefanidi with a 4.60m clearance and Jamaican long jumper Damar Forbes with an 8.03m leap.
Lopez Lomong, the Sudan-born runner who carried the American flag at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, won the 5,000 in 13:27.60.
Shannon Rowbury, a two-time Olympian and 2009 world third-place finisher at 1,500, won the women s mile in 4:24.32.
American Matthew Centrowitz, the 2013 world runner-up and 2012 Olympics fourh-place finisher at 1,500, won the mile in 3:51.35, edging New Zealand s Nick Willis, the 2008 Olympic 1,500 runner-up by .11 of a second
