American sprinters Tyson Gay showed and Sanya Richards-Ross each made emphatic statements with victories on a rain-slicked track at the Montreuil meeting Monday.
Gay ran the 100m in 10.04 to beat 2008 Olympic silver medalist Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago by 0.12 in a 0.5-meter headwind.
Meanwhile, Richards-Ross, the 2012 Olympic champion in the 400, won that event in Paris, pulling away down the stretch to finish with a time of 51.12. She was happy with the victory, but apparently just as happy to have escaped the wet conditions without injury.
“I think the last time I ran in weather like this is probably Zurich 2005,” she told the Associated Press. “I tried to block it out, but it’s really hard to get going really fast, especially the first 50. A little bit more cautious. I do want to have a successful season, so I don’t want to risk an injury.”
Gay’s victory in Paris was his second appearance in competition since serving a one-year doping ban. In his first appearance last week, he finished second to fellow American Justin Gatlin in the 100 at the Diamond Leauge meet in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago, who won a photo finish in the 100 in last week’s event, won the women’s 100 in Paris in 11.32, overcoming a poor start to beat Jamaica’s Carrie Russell.
