Kingdom Takes 110 Hurdles in 12.97; Lewis Wins 19.82 200

Roger Kingdom of the United States became only the second man ever to crack the 13-second barrier in the 110-meter hurdles, winning the event in 12.97 Thursday and stealing the show from Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson.

“I am shocked myself,” Kingdom said. “I still have a technical problem in pulling my trail leg over the hurdle. Once I improve on that, I’ll get the world record.”

Kingdom, who will be 26 in two weeks, came within .04 of the world record of 12.93, set by Renaldo Nehemiah in 1981. Colin Jackson of Britain was second in 13.11, the second fastest time in the world this year and a European record.

Lewis ran 19.82 in the 200, and Johnson had a 9.98 in the 100.

“I had a great start, but I stumbled a little bit coming off the bend,” Lewis said.

Johnson wasn’t happy with his performance, although 9.98 virtually matched the wind-aided 9.90 he ran Saturday in the Canadian championships. He beat Americans Joe DeLoach and Dennis Mitchell, who both clocked 10.11.

“I ran well for the first 80 meters, but then I could not keep my back up. I felt it was too stiff,” Johnson said. “This will go with a few more races. This is only my second event after my leg injury which kept me out of racing for three months.”

It was the inaugural meet for the Sestriere track, which is the highest in Europe at 6,723 feet elevation.

Other results included Evelyn Ashford winning the women’s 100 in 10.94; Danny Everett winning the 400 in 44.53 seconds; Larry Myricks winning the long jump with a leap of 28 feet 1 3/4 inches; James Lott winning the high jump at 7-7, and Kevin Young winning the 400-meter hurdles in 48.62.