Felicien finishes 2nd at London meet
Last Updated: Saturday, July 25, 2009 | 5:42 PM ET
The Canadian Press
Usain Bolt, left, anchors Jamaica to an easy relay victory, with Canada's Brian Barnett crossing the line in fourth. (Sang Tan/Associated Press)Canada's Perdita Felicien raced to second place in the women's 100-metre hurdles at the London Grand Prix on Saturday in her fastest time since returning from injury.
The hurdler from Pickering, Ont., who was sidelined last summer with a foot injury that cost her a spot in the Beijing Olympics, ran 12.66 seconds in a photo finish.
Olympic silver medallist Sally McLellan of Australia ran 12.65 to win, while American LoLo Jones was third in 12.71.
Priscilla Lopes-Schliep of Whitby, Ont., was fifth in 12.89.
Usain Bolt and his club teammates ran the fourth-fastest 4x100-metre relay time in history — 37.46 seconds — shrugging off a developing doping probe involving Jamaican sprinters.
Bolt anchored the team that included fellow Jamaicans Yohan Blake and Mario Forsythe, plus Antigua's Daniel Bailey, representing the Kingston-based Racers Track Club.
"It was a good race, a good team effort," the triple Olympic champion and world record-holder said. "We executed it well."
The Canadian team of Hank Palmer of Pierrefonds, Que., Oluseyi Smith of Ottawa, Jared Connaughton of Charlottetown and Edmonton's Brian Barnett finished fourth in 38.62.
Nate Brannen of Cambridge, Ont., was fifth in the men's mile in three minutes, 54.57 seconds. American Bernard Legat won in 3:52.71.
Malindi Elmore of Kelowna, B.C., was seventh in the women's 1,500 in 4:09.54. American Anna Willard ran 4:07.95 to win.
At the end of a two-day meet overshadowed by speculation surrounding the Jamaican doping investigation, even the relay triumph had a dramatic twist.
The Racers TC team was initially disqualified because the 19-year-old Blake broke too quickly at the start of the second leg. However, the judges changed their minds and the quartet was reinstated within 30 minutes.
On Friday, Jamaica's new anti-doping organization said four male sprinters and one female tested positive for an unidentified drug at their national championships last month. They have been asked if they want their backup samples tested.
"I don't know what is happening back home," said Bolt, who is not involved in the probe. "All I know is that we have to wait for the results of the second tests."
None of Jamaica's Olympic medallists from Beijing are implicated.
However, the country's anti-doping officials said all five were chosen for Jamaica's team for the world championships being held Aug. 15-23 in Berlin.
The woman was identified Saturday as Sheri-Ann Brooks.
Brooks' manager Chris Mychasiw told the Associated Press that the athlete had been officially notified as being involved in the scandal.
Brooks, 26, won the 100-metre Commonwealth Games title in Melbourne in 2006. In 2005 she was the NCAA collegiate champion over 200 when running for Florida International University.
Blake, who ran a personal best 9.93 to finish third behind Bolt in Paris last week, declined Saturday to answer questions about the probe.
Earlier Saturday, defending world champion Tyson Gay won the 200 after easing up to finish in 20 seconds flat, though he required painkillers to numb a groin injury and went straight to the treatment room.
The 26-year-old Gay still remained confident of defending his 100 and 200 world titles against Bolt in Berlin next month, although he is "taking it one day at a time."
"My groin has been tight on me, I'm trying to take a little Advil to run through the pain," Gay said. "Right now I'm running on faith and that's more dangerous than anything. I don't feel anything when I hear the gun. I just run and I'm dangerous.
"It's after that I feel it."
Bolt set world records in the 100 and 200 metres at Beijing while also being part of the Jamaican team that set a world mark of 37.10 in the 400-metre relay.
A year earlier at the 2007 worlds in Osaka, Japan, Gay swept those events. His Beijing plans though were stymied by a hamstring injury.
Bolt easily won the 100 Friday, running 9.91 into a strong headwind.
