Sanya Richards romps to fastest time of year in Berlin

SANYA Richards issued a message of intent to Christine Ohuruogu at the first Golden League meeting, with an emphatic victory in Berlin.

STATEMENT OF INTENT: The USA's Sanya Richards scorches to 400m victory at first 2009 Golden League meeting in Berlin

The 24-year-old American clocked 49.57 seconds at the first leg of the lucrative six-legged event in Germany - the quickest time of the year so far.

She took 0.29 secs off her own season's best and her time was a full 1.57 secs quicker than world and Olympic champion Ohuruogu could muster in her first 400m outing of the season in Montreuil last week.

Richards has a formidable record at Golden League meetings and has not been beaten since 2004, where she lost out in Oslo, but her 2007 exploits arguably cost her a place at the World Championships 400m race in Osaka.

That kind of form helped Richards to a cool $500,000 in 2007 as she split the $1m jackpot on offer to those athletes to win all six events in the series with Russia's pole vault superstar Yelena Isinbayeva.

Ohuruogu, on the other hand, has opted to concentrate on building her speed and has focused on 100m and 200m races, with her outing in Paris being her only 400m race this season as she bids to defend her world crown in August in Berlin.

"I am really looking forward to coming back in August and leaving Germany with gold," said Richards. "It took some time for me to get over the disappointment of the Olympics last year but this is a new start and I'm looking forward to racing Ohuruogu at the World Championships.

"If I were to pick up an injury - hopefully I won't - I would certainly stop competing at Golden League meetings and others."

The 25-year-old Londoner does have intentions of making her 2009 Golden league bow at Oslo's Bislett games on July 3, where Richards will no doubt attempt to keep her near-flawless record intact.

Meanwhile, Isinbayeva remains on course to again complete a Golden League clean sweep as she set a season's best of her own with a clearance of 4.83m to go to the top of the 2009 world rankings.

In the 100m Olympic silver medallist Kerron Stewart of Jamaica romped to victory ahead of American rival Stephanie Durst in 11 seconds flat, while the USA's Damu Cherry took the 100m hurdles win in 12.76.      

And in the high jump Germany's Ariane Friedrich delighted the home crowd to take victory with a clearance of 2.06m - just three centimetres short of Stefka Kostadinova's 22-year-old record.

Second was Croatia's Olympic silver medallist Blanka Vlasic, who was beaten by Friedrich at the final Golden League meeting of 2008, missing out of $500,000 in the process.

And there was good news for Great Britain in the 4x100m relay as 2008 world junior silver medallist Ashlee Nelson anchored the British quartet, that also included Laura Turner, Emily Freeman and Montell Douglas, home in 43.18 secs.