KAWASAKI, Japan -- Chinese star Liu Xiang stepped up his Olympic preparations by winning the 110-meter hurdles in rain and wind Sunday at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix meet.
Allyson Felix of the U.S. won the women's 100 meters in 11.22. She beat Melissa Breen of Australia by 0.16 seconds. Chisato Fukushima of Japan was third in 11.39.
Liu, the 2004 Olympic champion and 2007 world champion, finished in 13.09 seconds in his first outdoor race of the year. He was 0.24 seconds ahead of Omo Osaghae of the U.S. Another American, Ronald Brookins, was third in 13.69.
"Considering there was some wind and rain today I am satisfied with the time," Liu said. "This was my first outdoor race of the season, so it was a good result."
Looking toward the London Games, he added: "There are a lot of strong rivals so you just have to concentrate on your own conditioning and training."
Liu's victory follows a flawless 60-meter hurdles final of 7.41 seconds at the Birmingham Grand Prix in February. He finished almost a tenth of a second ahead of world record-holder Dayron Robles in their first meeting since last year's world championships.
China's Su Bingtian beat two Americans to win the men's 100 meters in 10.04. He was 0.01 seconds ahead of Mike Rodgers, with Kim Collins third in 10.07.
Felix said the weather made things "a bit crazy."
"But I just tried to stay focused," she said. "You never know what can happen in a major competition like this when the conditions aren't ideal."
Felix, a two-time Olympic silver medalist over 200 meters, said she is working hard toward a gold medal at London.
"I don't feel desperate, I feel very motivated," Felix said. "I've had a lot of time to think about being a silver medalist. It's definitely something that has been making me work hard and hopefully it was all come together."
