Veronica Campbell celebrates winning gold in the women's 100m final in Osaka (© Getty Images)
Reigning World 100m champion Veronica CampbellBrown took an impressive sprint double at the Central Florida Twilight in Orlando while American Travis Padgett joined the 100m sub-10 club at the Clemson Orange and Purple Classic on Saturday (10).
Campbell-Brown unchallenged
Campbell-Brown, who also dashed to World championships silver in Osaka last summer, was unchallenged in both her season’s debut at 100m and over the half lap where she’ll be defending her Olympic title in Beijing.
She took the 100m by nearly 0.2 seconds in 11.02 before cruising to a 22.38 victory in the 200m, winning by nearly a full second. The latter was also a season’s best, following up her runner-up finish at the Jamaica International in Kingston last weekend.
Sub-10 for Padgett
Meanwhile, a bit further north in Clemson, South Carolina, the 21-year-old Padgett, a student at Clemson University, clocked a sizzling 9.96 (+1.2), the fastest performance by an American this spring, and second fastest in the world behind Jamaican Usain Bolt.
Padgett first attracted attention in 2006 with a 10.00 performance to win the NCAA East regional title. Last year he won the NCAA indoor 60m crown in 6.56, still a personal best. In March he finished third at the indoor championships, clocking 6.60.
Fourth at the 2006 NCAAs outdoors in the 100m, he improved a notch last year, finishing third in 10.09. In late June, he reached the semi-finals at the US national championships.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF