MONACO, July 30: Russian Yelena Isinbayeva broke her own women’s world pole vault record on Tuesday when she cleared 5.04 metres at her third attempt at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Isinbayeva, who bettered her previous mark of 5.03 metres set at the Rome Golden League meeting on July 11, recorded her 13th outdoor world record and 23rd overall on a warm, still night in the principality.

The Olympic and world champion had come close to vaulting 5.04 metres last Friday in London, where she cleared the bar with her third attempt but brought it down during her descent.

Former world record holder Asafa Powell won his third consecutive 100 metres race of the season in his last major meeting before the Beijing Olympics starting next week.

The Jamaican Commonwealth champion clocked 9.82 seconds, his best time this year. Only compatriot Usain Bolt, who took the world record from Powell on May 31, and American world champion Tyson Gay have run faster in 2008.

Neither Powell nor Gay were in Tuesday’s race where American Darvis Patton finished second in 9.98 while Powell’s compatriot and training partner Nesta Carter took third place in 10.02.

The women’s 100 metres was also won by a Jamaican runner, Kerron Stewart, in 10.94. She narrowly outsprinted compatriot Sherone Simpson, who came second in 10.95. American Torri Edwards, the leading 2008 performer with 10.78, was third in 11.02.

Britain’s Martin Rooney profited from the absence of US 400 metres masters Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merritt to win over one lap in a personal best 44.72 seconds.

Daniel Kipchirchir Komen set a year’s best of three minutes 31.49 seconds for the men’s 1,500 metres, narrowly beating compatriot Shedrack Kibet Korir, who came second in 3:31.94.

Jamaica’s Melaine Walker repulsed the challenge of American Tiffany Ross-Williams to clock a year’s best 53.48 seconds for the women’s 400 metres hurdles. Ross-Williams finished a close second in 53.54 with compatriot Sheena Tosta third in 53.58.

Portugal’s Naide Gomes also set a year’s best in the women’s long jump, with a leap of 7.12 metres, eight centimetres further than the previous top mark she shared with Russia’s Lyudmila Kolchanova.

Results:

Men’s:

100 metres race 1: 1. Asafa Powell (Jamaica) 9.82 seconds; 2. Darvis Patton (US) 9.98; 3. Nesta Carter (Jamaica) 10.02.

100 metres race 2: 1. Leroy Dixon (US) 10.18 seconds; 2. Michael Rodgers (US) 10.24; 3. Rodney Martin (US) 10.27.

400 metres: 1. Martyn Rooney (Britain) 44.72 seconds; 2. Ricardo Chambers (Jamaica) 44.90; 3. Leslie Djhone (France) 44.95.

800 metres: 1. Yuriy Borzakovskiy (Russia) one minute 42.79 seconds; 2. Youssef Saad Kamel (Bahrain) 1:42.79; 3. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (South Africa) 1:43.26.

1,500 metres: 1. Daniel Kipchirchir Komen (Kenya) three minutes 31.49 seconds; 2. Shedrack Kibet Korir (Kenya)

3:31.94; 3. Nicholas Willis (New Zealand) 3:33.51.

3,000 metres: 1. Joseph Ebuya (Kenya) seven minutes 34.62 seconds; 2. Isaac Songok (Kenya) 7:35.06; 3. Abraham Chebii (Kenya) 7:36.08.

110-metre hurdles: 1. David Oliver (US) 13.11 seconds; 2. Anwar Moore (US) 13.19; 3. Jason Richardson (US) 13.23.

400-metre hurdles: 1. Danny McFarlane (Jamaica) 48.39 seconds; 2. Marek Plawgo (Poland) 48.69; 3. Reuben McCoy (US) 48.82.

3,000 metres steeplechase: 1. Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad (France) eight minutes 17.22 seconds; 2. Wesley Kiprotich (Kenya) 8:17.95; 3. Youcef Abdi (Australia) 8:18.34.

4x100 metres relay: 1. US 38.41 seconds; 2. Germany 38.48; 3. Italy 39.17.

High jump: 1. Andrey Silnov (Russia) 2.33 metres; 2. Linus Thornblad (Sweden) 2.31; 3. Andrey Tereshin (Russia) 2.31.

Triple jump: 1. Randy Lewis (Grenada) 17.42 metres; 2. Nelson Evora (Portugal) 17.24; 3. Dmitrij Valukevic (Slovakia) 17.20.

Shot put: 1. Tomasz Majewski (Poland) 20.44 metres; 2. Daniel Taylor (US) 20.26; 3. Rutger Smith (Netherlands) 20.24.

Women’s:

100 metres race 1: 1. Kerron Stewart (Jamaica) 10.94 seconds; 2. Sherone Simpson (Jamaica) 10.95; 3. Torri Edwards (US) 11.02.

100 metres race 2: 1. Bianca Knight (US) 11.09 seconds; 2. Me’Lisa Barber (US) 11.12; 3. Debbie Ferguson (Bahamas) 11.13.

1,500 metres: 1. Natalya Pantelyeva (Russia) four minutes 02.56 seconds; 2. Sarah Jamieson (Australia) 4:03.03; 3. Natalia Rodriguez (Spain) 4:03.68.

3,000 metres: 1. Wude Ayalew Yimer (Ethiopia) eight minutes 35.50 seconds; 2. Dolores Checa (Spain) 8:37.78; 3. Peninah Jepchumba (Kenya) 8:40.12.

100-metre hurdles: 1. Brigitte Foster-Hylton (Jamaica) 12.49 seconds; 2. Sally McLellan (Australia) 12.53; 3. Joanna Hayes (US) 12.67.

400-metre hurdles: 1. Melanie Walker (Jamaica) 53.48 seconds; 2. Tiffany Ross-Williams (US) 53.54; 3. Sheena Tosta (US) 53.58.

4x100 metres relay: 1. Americas 42.33 seconds; 2. US 42.49; 3. Germany 43.25

Long jump: 1. Naide Gomes (Portugal) 7.12 metres; 2. Brittney Reese (US) 6.76; 3. Lyudmila Kolchanova (Russia) 6.68.

Pole vault: 1. Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) 5.04 metres (world record); 2. Yuliya Golubchikova (Russia) 4.71; 3. Monika Pyrek (Poland) 4.71.—Reuters