/world sport
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) -- Olympic 400 meters champion Jeremy Wariner ran a personal best of 43.50 seconds at the DN Gala meeting on Tuesday to equal fellow-American Quincy Watts as the third fastest man ever.
Wariner looks a firm favorite to retain his world 400m title after his superb time in Stockholm.
Only his agent Michael Johnson and Butch Reynolds have run faster while Watts clocked the same time at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Wariner, who defends his world title in Osaka, Japan, this month, told reporters the race was "pretty much perfect".
"I'm happy to get a PR (personal record), and it feels great to go into the world championships half a second faster than all the rest," he said.
On a cloudless, hot day Wariner relegated compatriot Kerron Clement into second place nearly a second behind in 44.48.
"The weather was perfect. I didn't feel any wind because the stadium blocked it out, and the sun didn't bother me because I'm used to the heat," added Wariner. "If I run like this in Osaka, I can almost guarantee a 43.3 run."
Johnson set the world record of 43.18 at the 1999 Seville world championships.
The time was a second stadium record in a row for Wariner, who was awarded a one-carat diamond for his feat. Last year he clocked 44.02 seconds.
Croatian Blanka Vlasic won the women's high jump, improving her world's year best by one centimeter to 2.07 meters on her third attempt. The jump was also a stadium record.
Vlasic then attempted to break the 20-year-old world record but failed with all three attempts at 2.10.
World record holder Asafa Powell had a less inspiring day but still managed to win the men's 100 meters, overcoming a poor start to win in 10.04 seconds.
The Jamaican only just edged Derrick Atkins of the Bahamas, who finished second in 10.05 seconds, with Churandy Martina third in 10.16.
"Normally, 10.04 is a joke," said Powell. "It was not a good race. I got a bad start but I managed to accelerate and catch up.
"(But) I'm not worried about the world championships, I know what I did wrong and it's easy to fix."
Ethiopian Olympic 10,000 meters champion Kenenisa Bekele set a stadium record and a year's best in the men's 3,000 meters, clocking seven minutes 25.79 seconds.
American Me'Lisa Barber beat her compatriot Sanya Richards into second place in the women's 100 meters, winning in 11.03 seconds with Richards 0.02 behind. E-mail to a friend 
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