Drummond is quick off the blocks

Athletics

Five American 100m sprinters, led by Jon Drummond's 9.92 seconds, breached the 10-second mark at the US championships in Indianapolis, while Marion Jones produced the year's fastest two women's 100m times, dominating the semi-finals in 10.92sec after running 10.98sec in her opening race.

Headwinds slowed the pace in the men's semi-finals, where Dennis Mitchell was eliminated after finishing sixth. The top three finishers in the finals earn a place on the US squad for August's World Championships in Athens.

The shot put final saw an impressive display from Randy Barnes, the world record holder, who decided the competition with a put of 22.03m, the best this year. The world champion, John Godina, missed a chance to defend his title, finishing fourth at 20.49m.

Steve Fritz, fourth in the Atlanta Olympics, won the decathlon with 8,604 points, the second-best mark of the year, while Kelly Blair was first in the heptathlon with a lifetime best of 6,465 points.

The American men had not been among the year's top-five 100m runners until Maurice Greene's 9.96sec opening heat. Only Trinidad's Ato Boldon, at 9.89 sec, had run faster. Drummond came even closer to Boldon's mark with 9.92 in the third heat. Kareem Streete-Thompson was second at 9.96sec. Also under 10 seconds were Mike Marsh, the 1992 Olympic 200m champion and the winner of the fourth heat in 9.97, and Tim Montgomery, the fifth- heat winner at 9.96.

The wind shifted into the runners' faces before the men's semi-finals and times slowed. Marsh ran 10.13sec and Drummond clocked 10.1. Greene led the second semi-final in 10.08.

Gail Devers, the 1992 Olympic champion, nearly matched Marion Jones by running 10.99sec in a later heat.