Bolt takes aim at 200m record

SHANGHAI, China (AP): After dominating the 100 metres this week in South Korea, Usain Bolt is gearing up to try and better his world record in the 200 at Shanghai tomorrow.

The Jamaican headlines the field at the Diamond League meet in China's commercial hub, which also features China's former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang and Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser, the reigning women's 100 world and Olympic champion.

"I'm definitely proud of how I started out my season," Bolt said yesterday. "I'm looking good so far, though I need to work on a few things. I'll try to give my fans a good show."

World-champion hurdler, Ryan Brathwaite, of Barbados and Kenya's Pamela Jelimo, Olympic champion in the 800, are also among the athletes appearing at the meet, the new league's second of the season following last week's opener in Doha, Qatar.

Bolt won the 100 metres in his season debut at a meet in Daegu, South Korea on Wednesday in a year's best 9.86 seconds, 0.28 seconds off the world record of 9.58 he set at last year's World Championships in Berlin.

In the 200, he faces Ryan Bailey of the United States (US), who won at Daegu in 20.58 - more than a second off Bolt's record of 19.19.

The men's 100 is not being run at Shanghai.

For Liu, the hometown meet marks another step in his comeback from an Achilles tendon injury that forced his dramatic withdrawal from the 2008 Beijing Games, disappointing millions of Chinese fans who had hoped to see a repeat of his 2004 victory in Athens.

liu not in full form yet

Liu pulled out of a meet in Osaka, Japan earlier this month to be in shape for Shanghai and though his surgery last year was a success, he is still not back to his earlier form and feeling some pain, he says.

"I'm not a medical expert, but I take it seriously," Liu told reporters. "I actually fear pain and don't like it. It's hard, but I still have confidence that I can perform better in the near future."

Cuba's Dayron Robles, the world record-holder and reigning Olympic champion, won't be appearing in Shanghai. However, Liu faces stiff competition in the form of Brathwaite and American David Oliver, the Olympic bronze medallist who was the winner on Wednesday in South Korea.

"If he (Robles) is here, I have to run. If he's not, I still have to run. It doesn't make much difference," Liu said.

Asked to comment on each other as they sat side-by-side on the dais, Bolt said that while the two cannot converse due to language differences, he admires Liu's comeback from his frustrating withdrawal from the 2008 Beijing Games.

Liu said he was in awe of Bolt's relaxed running form.

"He seems as if he might be from another planet," Liu said.

In the women's 100, Fraser's chief competition will come from Carmelita Jeter of the US, who boasts this year's best time in the event and will be looking for a third win in as many races this season. Jamaica's Sherone Simpson, who was third in Daegu, is also in the field.

Jelimo leads the pack in the 800, in which she placed second at Daegu, while world and Olympic champion Valerie Vili of New Zealand features in the shot put.