ATHENS, Greece (AP)

Beijing Olympic gold medallists LaShawn Merritt of the United States and Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica cruised to victories at the Tsiklitiria Athens Grand Prix track yesterday.

Merritt, the men's 400 metres Olympic champion, had the easier time, winning the 400 in 44.54 seconds, the second-best time this year behind his own 44.50, which he has achieved twice.

Campbell-Brown, the women's 200 Olympic champion, raced in the 100 in Athens, winning in 10.96 seconds, 0.06 faster than Carmelita Jeter of the United States.

easy victory

Merritt was to have raced Jeremy Wariner, the 400 Olympic champion in 2004, and the only runner so far who has run close to Merritt's times. Wariner's absence ensured Merritt an easy victory; second-place David Neville of the US was far behind, clocking 45.14.

"I didn't expect to run under 44.60 because I felt a little tired at the last metres. I will be ready (for the World Championships) in Berlin," Merritt said.

Campbell-Brown had a scare after the race when she grabbed her hamstring but she did not appear to be seriously injured.

"I am very satisfied with my performance. My injury is not serious. It looks like a cramp. There is enough time till Berlin," Campbell-Brown said.

Yargelis Savigne of Cuba, the reigning world champion in the women's triple jump, both indoors and outdoors, jumped an even 15 metres, the biggest leap in the world this year.

no serious challenge

Like Merritt, Savigne was not seriously challenged in an event which was notable mainly for the presence of three Cuban women competing for three different countries. Besides Savigne, Magdelin Martinez competes for Italy and Yamile Aldama for Sudan.

Other notable performances included Jamaican Isa Phillips' 48.09 seconds in the men's 400 hurdles, the season's third-fastest performance, and Brimin Kipruto's 8:03.17 in the men's 3000 steeplechase, an event dominated, as usual, by Kenyans.

The most hotly contested events were the men's long jump and the women's shot put, which were not decided until the very end. In the long jump, Australia's Fabrice Lapierre edged out local favourite Louis Tsatoumas by a mere three centimetres (8.24 to 8.21). The margin in the shot put was even closer, a mere centimetre, as Belarus's Nadezhda Ostapchuk heaved her final throw to 19.68 metres to overtake German veteran Nadine Kleinert.