Athletics: Olympic champions Parchment, Muhammad, Crouser win at Drake

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Olympic champions Dalilah Muhammad, Hansle Parchment and Ryan Crouser won titles on Saturday (April 30) at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, in a tune-up meet for July's World Championships.

Reigning world 400m hurdles champion Muhammad, the 2016 Olympic champion and last year's runner-up, won the 400 hurdles in a 2022 world best of 53.88 seconds, defeating Panama's Gianna Woodruff by a second.

"I felt good," Muhammad said. "I just wanted to go out there and have a clean race and bring it home."

US compatriot Crouser, the two-time reigning Olympic champion and world record-holder in the men's shot put, won his speciality with an effort of 21.63m with Italy's Nick Ponzio second at 21.04m.

Parchment, the reigning Olympic 110m hurdles champion from Jamaica, won the event in 13.47sec with American Jamal Britt second in 13.53sec and Barbados Olympian Shane Braithwaite third in 13.69sec.

"Technically not so great but I came through injury free so that's the most important thing," Parchment said.

Meanwhile, reigning Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin and Athing Mu won titles and American two-time Olympian turned NFL receiver Devon Allen set a meet record on Saturday at the Penn Relays.

Tokyo Olympic 400-meter hurdles champion McLaughlin won the 100m hurdles in a meet-record 12.75sec while 19-year-old US compatriot Mu, the 800m winner in Tokyo, took the seldom-contested 600m in 1min 22.74sec at Philadelphia's Franklin Field.

Allen, who signed a deal with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles earlier this month, beat former world and Olympic champion Omar McLeod of Jamaica to win the men's 110m hurdles.

With top-five finishes at the past two Olympics but no medal, the American ran 13.11sec to beat 2016 Olympic champion and 2017 world champion McLeod by 0.11sec.

"I was excited," said Allen, who spent the week training with the Eagles. "You know it's a good day to come out and beat Omar, one of the best in the world."