West Berlin Grand Prix Track and Field Meet : Moses’ 101st Straight Is Fastest of Year

Edwin Moses of the United States ran the year’s fastest 400-meter hurdles race Friday, reeling off a time of 47.53 seconds for his 101st straight victory in a final.

Moses, the 1976 and 1984 Olympic champion in the event, was cheered wildly by 40,000 spectators at Olympic Stadium as he easily outdistanced Amadou Dia Ba of Senegal and David Patrick of the United States. The Senegalese runner was clocked in 48.07, Patrick in 48.83.

“I was disappointed that some of my (400-meter hurdles) colleagues weren’t here,” Moses said after the Grand Prix meet. Andre Phillips of the United States and European record-holder Harald Schmid decided not to compete against Moses, whose streak dates back to 1977.

Moses said he has a “realistic” goal of lowering his world record by .02 of a second to 47 seconds flat.

The international competition here was held in honor of Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics at the same stadium.

Chidi Imoh of Nigeria won the men’s 100-meter dash in 10 seconds flat. Imoh, who was second in the 100 Wednesday night at Zurich, Switzerland, finished just ahead of Marian Woronin of Poland, the European record-holder, who was timed in 10.11.

World record-holder Calvin Smith of the United States was third in 10.14.

Four-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis of the United States did not compete because of a knee injury that will sideline him for the rest of the year. Also missing was Ben Johnson of Canada, the winner at Zurich. Johnson is suffering from a cold and has returned home.

In the women’s 100, world record-holder Evelyn Ashford of the United States won with a time of 10.93, after pulling ahead of the pack midway in the race.

Merlene Ottey-Page of Jamaica was second in 11.07, followed by Jeanette Bolden of the United States in 11.11.

Morocco’s Said Aouita missed what he had hoped would be a world record in the mile. Aouita was clocked in 3:50.35, well behind the record 3:46.32 set by Britain’s Steve Cram last year.

Spain’s Jose Gonzales was second, while Ireland’s Frank O’Mara was third.

In the women’s 100-meter hurdles, Bulgaria’s Jordanka Donkova missed a world record by only .01 of a second when she ran 12.37. The record of 12.36 was set by Grazyna Rabsztyn of Poland in 1980. Donkova tied the record Thursday in Bulgaria.