Ottawa Track : Canadians Dominate in Sprints and Hurdles

Ben Johnson won the men’s 50-yard dash Friday night as Canadian athletes dominated the sprint and hurdle events in the Winternational Indoor Games.

Johnson recovered from a slow start to barely edge Chidi Omoh of Nigeria. Omoh was timed in 5.32. Tonight, Johnson will face Carl Lewis in the Olympic Invitational at East Rutherford, N.J.

Angela Bailey of Toronto edged Katie Anderson of Kingston, Ontario, to win the women’s 50-yard dash in 5.88.

Mark McKoy of Toronto won the men’s 50-yard hurdles in 5.93. McKoy prevailed over three U.S. runners in an event that was marked by two false starts and a fall by Cletus Clark. Sam Turner was second and Tonie Campbell third. McKoy’s time was only two-tenths of a second off his Canadian record of 5.95.

The only non-Canadian to win in the short events was Stephanie Hightower of the United States, who won the women’s 50-yard hurdles in 6.57.