• Aviva London Grand Prix

Gay lights up London Diamond League meeting

Mo Farah was edged out in the 3000m by American Bernard Lagat © Getty Images

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American sprint star Tyson Gay stole the show at the Aviva London Grand Prix, blowing away the field in the men's 100m and setting a new meeting record in the process.

Gay, who recently beat close rival Usain Bolt in Stockholm, blasted out of the blocks and turned on the burners to power home in a time of 9.78 seconds - the leading time in the world this year.

Britain's Mark Lewis-Francis, who grabbed a surprise silver medal at the European Championships in Barcelona, failed to make the final after finishing sixth in his heat.

"It felt good," Gay said. "I just prayed to God that I got through this race healthy. My groin was a little tight but it feels good."

Double European champion Mo Farah came up short in the men's 3,000m as American Bernard Lagat held him off to cross the finish line in seven minutes 40.36 seconds.

Perhaps still feeling the effects of his incredible exploits in Barcelona, Farah struggled to find the familiar sprint finish we have become accustomed to seeing.

The 27-year-old took up a position towards the back of the group in the early stages - leaving Suleiman Simotwo to set the necessary pace. At the bell, Farah made his move but Australia's Collis Birmingham powered past the Brit on the final lap.

As Birmingham faded, the race essentially became a straight battle between Farah and Lagat and the American had the strength to finish the job off in style.

Allyson Felix stormed effortlessly to 200m glory. The 24-year-old, unbeaten in all Diamond League races this year except in New York where she lost to Veronica Campbell-Brown, drove away from the blocks and, following a sumptuous bend, had the speed endurance to finish well in 22.37.

European champion Dai Greene could only muster a third-place finish in the 400m hurdles. World No. 1 Bershawn Jackson won in 48.12 ahead of Javier Culson, and afterwards Greene admitted to being well off the pace.

"It was difficult," he said. "He [Jackson] is the best in the world at the moment. I found it very difficult to raise my game after the high of Barcelona. I was pleased to put on a decent display in front of a home crowd and top three is not so bad. I was rusty all the way round, you could see I've not done that much training in the last week."

Phillips Idowu, who also won gold in Barcelona, was visibly heavy-legged in the triple jump and consequently finished a lowly sixth place. Idowu set a personal best of 17.81m when he was crowned European champion but he lacked rhythm and 16.54m was his best effort. Former world and Olympic champion Christian Olsson took the event with a leap of 17.41m.

There was no success either for Michael Rimmer. The Brit, who was beaten to the European title by Marcin Lewandowski, came a disappointing eighth.

"I wasn't happy at all with that," he said. "I don't know what happened because I felt phenomenal, I really thought I was going to win it. But with about 100m to go someone cut in front of me and I had to chop and go round them."

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