Ramzi runs fastest 1,500 metres ever in United States

Double world champion Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain ran the fastest 1,500 metres on American soil to defeat Olympic silver medallist Bernard Lagat at the Adidas Track Classic in Carson, California on Sunday.

Moroccan-born Ramzi passed Lagat in the final 300 metres and won in three minutes 32.24 seconds, to eclipse the US all-comers record of 3:32.53 set by former British world record holder Sebastian Coe in winning the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Lagat, the former Kenyan who won 1,500m silver in Athens and now represents the United States, finished second in 3:32.94.

"It was very important, especially in America, to beat Coe's record because everybody knows who Coe is," Ramzi, speaking through a translator, told Reuters.

Ramzi will face Lagat in a mile race at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon next Sunday. He will also run in the New York meeting on June 3, manager John Nubani said.

World 200m silver medallist Wallace Spearmon and Jamaican Olympic champion Veronica Campbell also produced times that were the fastest in the world this year.

Spearmon out-ran Olympic and world 400m champion Jeremy Wariner to win their 200 metres race in 20.06 seconds. Wariner, who is experimenting with the shorter distance this year, ran a lifetime best of 20.19 seconds for second.

Campbell, the 2004 Olympic 200m champion and 100m bronze medallist, became the first to dip under 11 seconds in the women's 100 this year when she clocked 10.99 seconds.