Rovereto, Italy: Former Olympic 100 metres champion Justin Gatlin continued to improve in his comeback from a doping ban when he ran 10.09 seconds on Tuesday but Caster Semenya endured an 800m race to forget.
Gatlin, 28, finished second behind Jamaica's Johan Blake, who won in a time of 10.06 despite clutching his hamstring as he crossed the line.
Two false starts at the small meeting in the foothills of the Italian Dolomites upset American Gatlin's rhythm and when they finally ran he tweaked his quad.
However, he believes he can run under 10 seconds in his next race in Padua, Italy on Friday and is already thinking about next year's world championships.
Good show
"I think I can go out there and pose a threat to anyone who steps over the line and I feel I can put on a good show," he told Reuters.
"I just need to come and run man. I'm just ready for my next race and I'll keep going after that."
"I don't give myself a time to aim for. I give myself a victory as a target."
The double 2005 sprint world champion, who tested positive for the male sex hormone testosterone and its precursor in 2006, ran 10.24 in Estonia this month in his first race back and has continued to get better.
His official personal best is 9.85 but he has run an annulled 9.77 and could challenge world and Olympic champion Usain Bolt, whose world record is 9.58, at the 2012 Olympics.
Gatlin has had to pick smaller meetings because he is excluded from top European races due to a Euro Meetings recommendation not to invite athletes who have served major doping suspensions. He is, however, eligible for world championships and Olympics.
World 800m champion Semenya will have to improve even more if she is to defend her title next year after finishing ninth in Rovereto in two minutes 07.16 seconds, 6.79 seconds behind winner Elisa Cusma Piccione of Italy.
The 19-year-old South African was only cleared to compete again last month after controversial gender tests had put her career on hold since she won the world title in 2009.
‘Just the game'
Asked what had happened for such a slow time, she told reporters: "Nothing happened, it's just the game."
Fellow South African Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee who runs with prosthetic blades, finished third in the 400m in 47.14 seconds as he continues to push for inclusion in the worlds or Olympics.
