Bednarek, Thompson-Herah cruise to victory in Rabat Diamond League

RABAT : Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek began the defence of his 200 metres Diamond League title with a comfortable win in Rabat on Sunday while Elaine Thompson-Herah continued her preparation for a first individual world title with another 100m victory.

American Bednarek, who made a disappointing start to his season by finishing eighth in the 100m race in Eugene, Oregon last week, showed no signs of rust in his preferred event by crossing the line in 20.21 seconds.

Assisted by the wind, the 23-year-old finished 0.14 ahead of South African Luxolo Adams while Italian Eseosa Fostine Desalu was third with a time of 20.54.

"I'm happy with today´s victory and my season best though I wanted to do a better performance and achieve a higher timing," Bednarek said.

"Now, I'll go back home and train harder to prepare for the world championships."

Olympic champion Thompson-Herah overcame a shoulder injury and Achilles issues to win the women's 100m event in last week's dry run for July's world championships in the United States and the Jamaican looked unstoppable again.

She exploded out of the blocks at Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium - which was hosting the Diamond League for the first time since 2019 - and sealed the victory in 10.83 seconds, improving on her own meeting record of 10.87 set in 2017.

"I feel amazing about the race today," said the 29-year-old, who is hoping to add an individual world championships title to her collection of five Olympic gold medals.

"This is my third time in Rabat and I'm super excited about the new meeting record. For the next event in Rome I'm following the same process and keeping up the same pace."

Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou was second after clocking 11.04 and Thompson-Herah's compatriot Natasha