(From left) Jeremy Wariner, 400 metres sprinter of the United States, his compatriot, 400 metres sprinter Sanya Richards, and Jamaica's 100 metres sprinter Asafa Powell pose on the podium during the Golden League athletics meet at the Olympic stadium in Berlin, yesterday. The athletes completed perfect Golden League seasons to scoop US$250,000 shares in the double jackpot. - Reuters

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters)

Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell and American 400 metres runners Jeremy Wariner and Sanya Richards completed perfect Golden League seasons yesterday to scoop US$250,000 shares in the double jackpot.

Powell ran 9.86 seconds in cold, damp conditions in the 100 at the International Stadionfest (ISTAF) meeting, well ahead of American Tyson Gay in second (9.96) and enough to give the world record holder a sixth win out of six in the series.

Wariner, the 400 world and Olympic champion, had little trouble matching that record in front of a 48,000 crowd at the Olympiastadion, scene of football's World Cup final in July.

The American ran his usual untroubled race on the blue track, coming home in 44.26 seconds to hold off a late surge from Gary Kikaya (44.43).

Richards became the third and final athlete with a faultless record when she won the women's 400 in 49.81 seconds, putting her just over a second ahead of fellow American Dee Dee Trotter."It may have looked easy but it was tough," said Richards. "I can now buy a present for my parents."

SPOILS SHARED

That trio will share a $500,000 purse, working out at $166,666 apiece, for athletes winning all six of their races in the Golden League meetings provided they appear at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart next weekend.

They will add that to one-sixth shares in a separate $500,000 jackpot ($83,333 each) for athletes winning their events in at least five of the six meetings.

Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia, who was also in line for the double jackpot going into the Berlin meet, was edged out by world record holder and compatriot Meseret Defar in a thrilling finish to the women's 5,000m.

Dibaba held a slight lead going down the final straight but a devastating late kick from Defar saw her take the lead inside the final 10 metres. Dibaba, therefore, had to settle for the $83,333 on offer for five wins out of six.

FIFTH VICTORIES

Two other athletes clinched shares of that part of the pot when they recorded their fifth victories.Irving Saladino of Panama claimed his prize in the long jump with a first round leap of 8.35m. Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia ran a solo race for his fifth win in the 5,000m. His time of 12:57.74 took him to victory by over seven seconds from his brother Tariku Bekele. The only disappointment was the lack of a world record, with conditions proving particularly unhelpful to the sprinters.

"I'm sorry for the people in Berlin that I couldn't get the record," said Powell, who had to be content with a meeting record, an 11th legal sub-10 run of the season and a 22nd successive win. "The crowd was great."

Sherone Simpson won the women's 100 in 10.92 seconds, Brigitte Foster-Hylton was second in the 100m hurdles in 12.80 behind American Virginia Powell (12.72), Novlene Williams (51.03) and Shericka Williams (51.36) were third and sixth respectively in the 400m, Maurice Wignall was seventh in the 110m hurdles in 13.67, Michael Frater was eighth in the 100 in 10.32 and James Beckford was seventh in the long jump with a leap of 7.91m.