PADOVA, Italy – Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce captured the 100 metres dash at the European Athletics (EAA) Citta di Padova Meeting on Sunday (17).
Fraser-Pryce, who is bidding to win a third successive women’s Olympic 100m crown at the 2016 Rio Games next month, won in Italy with a time of 11.25 seconds.
The Jamaican easily defeated American Jeneba Tarmoh, who ran 11.47 for second place and fellow Jamaican Shimayra Williams (11.54).
Fraser-Pryce was joined by two other Jamaican athletes on the top podium, with quarter-miler Stephenie Ann McPherson and thrower O’Dayne Richards also winning their respective events in Padova.
McPherson, the reigning Jamaica national champion, clocked 50.98 seconds to win the women’s 400m dash, finishing ahead of Ukraine’s Olha Zemlyak, who posted a season’s best time of 51.18 and Italy’s Maria Benedict Chigbolu, who also crossed in a new 2016 best time of 52.01.
World bronze medallist Richards finished atop of the men’s Shot Put competition after throwing of 20.78m in the fifth round. The Jamaican also had marks of 20.18, 20.14, 20.29 and 20.06 in his series.
Poland’s Mateusz Mikos did 19.56m for second place.
Elsewhere at the meet in Padova, 2015 World champion and Olympic silver medallist Yarisley Silva of Cuba cleared 4.71m to win the women’s Pole Vault competition, while Great Britain’s Cindy Ofili stopped the clock at 13.11 for first place in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Amanda Eccleston ran a personal best of 4:04.88 to lead a USA 1-2 finish in the women’s 1500m, with Heather Kampf taking second in 4:05.31.
In other events, USA’s Eric Avila won the men’s 1500m in a new personal best of 3:36.37 and led three other countrymen across the finishing line.
The women’s 800m went to Italy’s Yus Caballero in 2:01.04, while American Ronnie Baker ran 10.15 to take the men’s 100m.
The athletes were using the meeting as part of their preparation for the Olympic Games in Brazil, which starters in the early weeks of August.
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