OSAKA, Japan, CMC – Double Olympic gold medalist Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown dismissed a challenge from Japanese sprint queen Chisato Fukushima to win the 100 metres at the Osaka Grand Prix on Saturday.
Campbell-Brown raced home in a time of 11.02 seconds to win easily in the end ahead of Fukushima, who finished second in a time of 11.27 at the Nagai Stadium.
The two sprinters dueled over the first 50 metres before the experienced Campbell-Brown moved into high gear and pulled away to win impressively.
“It is always good to win. I am happy to be back to Osaka,” said Campbell-Brown, who won the 100 metres when the World Championships were held at the venue three years ago.
“Today, I did not execute everything well but this is my first 100m of the season. My goal for the season is to set a personal best at 100m.”
Campbell-Brown, who turns 28 next Saturday, has won the 200 metres at the last two Olympic Games.
The 21-year-old Fukushima is Japan’s national record holder after clocking 11.21 seconds last month in Hiroshima.
Jamaican Michael Frater took the corresponding men’s event when he sprinted home in 10.24 seconds.
The 27-year-old was just 0.1 of a second ahead of American Travis Padgett while Japan’s Olympic sprinter Naoki Tsukahara was third in 10.36 seconds.
Jamaica secured another top-three finish when Clora Williams claimed silver in the women’s 400 metres in a time of 52.93 seconds.
The event was won by Ireland’s record holder Joanne Cuddihy who clocked 52.15 seconds.
