Track stars gather for Prefontaine Classic

EUGENE, Oregon — Defending champion Allyson Felix finished third in the Prefontaine Classic 400 meters and world champion Caster Semenya placed second in the 800 in her American debut on Saturday.

Amantle Montsho of Botswana won the 400 in 50.59 seconds, while Felix crossed in 51.41 to trail fellow American Debbie Dunn by 0.04. Felix is a three-time world champion and a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 200.

Semenya timed 1 minute, 58.88 seconds to finish 0.59 behind Kenia Sinclair of Jamaica. The South African won the event at the 2009 world championships but was unable to compete for much of last year because of controversial gender testing.

"The time is good. There is nothing bad I can say about the race," the 20-year-old Semenya said. "It doesn't matter about the position, it only matters about the time and it's good to run in the 1:58s."

While trying to regain her form, Semenya has fought injury. But she has made strides in recent months, and was coming off a victory in the 800 at the IAAF World Challenge Dakar Grand Prix before visiting Eugene. Her Pre time was her best this season.

"It was very good," she said. "It was good to be back. Fans, I miss that a lot."

The Pre, as it's known, is the fourth stop on the Diamond League circuit.

Jamaican Steve Mullings won the 100 in a meet record 9.80, the third best time on American soil. Justin Gatlin, who last year came off a four-year suspension for doping, finished sixth in 9.97, his first result under 10 seconds since his return.

Gatlin denies he knowingly used performance-enhancing substances, claiming a massage therapist, Eugene resident Chris Whetstine, used a testosterone-like cream on his legs in the spring of 2006. Whetstine has denied Gatlin's allegations.

Gatlin, who won the 100 at the Pre in 2005 and 2006, was reinstated last year and has recently been competing in minor meets in Europe. He is still excluded from major European events, and Rajne Soderberg, the director of the Stockholm Diamond League event, said in an e-mail on Friday that the ban still holds.

"It felt good," Gatlin said of his race Saturday. "I've had a quad injury the last week and a half, so been working on that since I've been here. But just putting the technique together like my coach said, just come out here and put a good race together."

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