Athletics: Season's best for Jackson

COLIN JACKSON ran the fastest time in the world this year in winning the 110 metres hurdles at an international meeting in Madrid last night.

Jackson clocked 12.99sec to beat his close friend and rival, Mark McKoy, the former Canadian now a naturalised Austrian. McKoy, the Olympic champion, ran 13.22. Another Briton, Tony Jarrett, was third in 13.23.

The Welshman now needs to win just two more races, in this weekend's World Cup at Crystal Palace, and then at a meeting in Japan, to go through the season unbeaten.

Jackson shared the evening's limelight with the Amercian 400m runner, Michael Johnson, who also set a world's best for the season of 43.90. He finished more than a second clear of second-placed Nigerian Sunday Bada.

John Regis did not have such a happy night. The British 200m record holder was beaten into second place by Namibia's Frankie Fredericks, 20.26 to 20.35.

The toughest competition came in the long jump where the world record-holder, Mike Powell of the United States, just edged out his compatriot Ronald McGhee by two centimetres with a jump of 8.22m.

In the high jump, Cuba's world record holder, Javier Sotomayor, was in a class of his own with 2.37m. And in the women's 100m Russia's Irina Privalova held her form well to win in 11.02 from Lilian Allen of Cuba.

Results, Sport in Short, page 39

Thomas' treble chance, page 37