OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Cuba’s Dayron Robles took the world record away from Liu Xiang, challenging the Chinese hurdler’s status as prohibitive favorite going into his homeland’s Olympics.
Xiang, the defending Olympic and world champion, has dominated the 110-meter hurdles the past few years. He is considered China’s best hope for gold on the track at the Beijing Games.
But Robles shaved 0.01 seconds off Xiang’s record Thursday night at the Golden Spike meet, winning in 12.87 seconds. Xiang, meanwhile, has struggled recently, withdrawing from the Reebok Classic in New York earlier this month with a sore hamstring and then getting disqualified for a false start last weekend at the Prefontaine Classic.
“It is such a good time; I did not expect that. Wow!” Robles said. “Thanks, Ostrava! I am very happy and satisfied. I do not know if I can beat Liu Xiang in Beijing now. But we will see.”
Robles’ record overshadowed Usain Bolt’s victory in the 200 in 19.83, a world-leading time for the season. It was the Jamaican’s first appearance this year in his favorite race, and it came less than two weeks after he set a world record of 9.72 in the 100.
Jeremy Wariner, the Olympic and world champion over 400 meters, won the 300 meters in 31.72. Derek Atkins of the Bahamas won the 100 meters in 10.08, followed by Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe and Paul Capel of the United States.
In women’s events, world champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia matched her best high jump of the season, 6-foot-83⁄4, but missed three times at a world-record height of 6-103⁄4. Lolo Jones won the 100-meter hurdles in 12.69 seconds, finishing 0.11 seconds ahead of fellow American Candice Davies.
Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia, who set the world record in the 5,000 last week, won the 10,000 in 31 minutes, 03.37 seconds, well off record pace.
Robles’ record was not the only one of the meet. Boston Marathon winner Dire Tune of Ethiopia set a new mark in the obscure women’s one-hour race, using four pacesetters to cover 18.517 kilometers. The previous mark of 18.340 was set in 1998 by Tegla Loroupe of Kenya.
In his record-smashing race, Robles defeated the rest of the field by more than a third of a second. Terrence Trammell of the United States was second in 13.21, followed by Sergey Demiduk of Ukraine in 13.42.
Robles, a 21-year-old from Guantanamo, finished fourth at the world championships last year. He won seven of eight races over 60 meters during the indoor season, but was seventh at the World Indoor Championships in March — where he was late out of the blocks because he thought there had been a false start.
He was 2-2 head-to-head against Liu in 2007, when Robles set his previous personal best of 12.92 while winning last September at the World Athletics Finals in Stuttgart, Germany.
Robles’ time Thursday will intensify the pressure on Liu, whose previous record of 12.88 was set in July 2006 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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