Linford Christie of Britain beat top American sprinters and won the 100-meter dash in a rain-soaked Weltklasse Grand Prix track meet Wednesday.
Americans, however, finished 1-2-3 in the men's 400 meters, with Derek Mills the winner at 44.93 seconds, followed by Quincy Watts at 45.03 and Steve Lewis at 45.12.Michael Johnson of the United States won the 200 meters in 20.33 seconds after fighting a strong head wind, followed by Daniel Effiong of Nigeria at 20.46 and Jeff Williams of the United States at 20.53.
"There are those people who said I'm too old," said Christie, the 34-year-old Olympic champion, after finishing the 100 in 10.05 seconds under a steady drizzle. "I'm old, but I'm not cold."
America Jon Drummond, who had boasted he would break the world record at Zurich, was second in 10.15, and Olapade Adeniken of Nigeria was third in 10.22.
Leroy Burrell, who set the world mark of 9.85 at Lausanne, Switzerland, only a month ago, finished a poor seventh at 10.39 after struggling in his first heat. Dennis Mitchell, this season's most consistent runner with five times under 10 seconds, was fourth in 10.23.
The only top American missing from the star-studded race was Carl Lewis, who has often taunted Christie for avoiding a showdown with him. Lewis bowed out from the Zurich meet Monday because he is recovering from a stomach infection.
"Carl's the one who wasn't here," Christie said. "He's the one who's ducking me."
Christie noted that Lewis and other Americans had been dismissing him as "Linford Who?" " `Linford Who' won the race," he said.