London Olympics: 53 days to go, Michael Phelps in top form

Xiang equals world record
China’s Liu Xiang charged to victory in the 110 metres hurdles, holding off a star-studded field to equal the world record with a wind-aided 12.87sec run in the Diamond League on Saturday.

Liu, the 2004 Olympic gold medallist, blasted out of the blocks and led from start to finish with the help of a strong tailwind measured at +2.4 metres per second. Because of the tailwind, Liu does not get a share of the world record, which is held by Cuba’s Dayron Robles. American Aries Merritt finished second in 12.96, while Jason Richardson was third in 13.11 in a field that boasted athletes holding five of the top six times in the world this year.

Farah clocks fastest time
World champion Mo Farah ended his pre-Olympic trial preparations on a perfect note by running the year’s fastest 5,000 metres at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting on Saturday. Farah pulled away from Kenyan Isiah Koech and US training partner Galen Rupp to clock 12 minutes 56.98 seconds in his final race ahead of the June 22-24 British trials in Birmingham. Koech was second in 12:57.63 with Rupp running 12:58.90, the first sub-13 minute display of his career.

Phelps in top form
Michael Phelps, swimming his last warm-up meet before the US Olympic trials, won the 400 metres medley on Saturday as club-mate Allison Schmitt stole the show at the Long­horn Elite Invitational. Phelps won the med­ley in 4:15.88, almost a second ahead of Cha­se Kalisz, another of his North Baltimore Aqu­atics teammates. Schmitt, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist, set a US Open and pool record with a time of 1:55.04 in the 200m free, eight-hundredths outside the American record she set in Rome in 2009. It was the second-fastest time in the world this year.

Setback for Pistorius
Oscar Pistorius is trying to become the first double-amputee to run in the Olympics this summer in London. The chances are dwindling for the South African. Pistorius ran the 400 metres at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon on Saturday in 46.86 seconds, well below the Olympic ‘A’ standard of 45.30 seconds. He thinks he needs to reach that mark in an international meet before June 30 for the South African athletics federation to consider him for the Olympics. Pistorius finished last in a strong field at the Diamond League event. American LaShawn Merritt won it in 44.91 seconds.