ROME, June 4 (Reuters) - American Olympic champion Noah Lyles made a winning start to his Diamond League campaign in the men's 100 metres at the Rome meeting on Thursday, and Julien Alfred beat world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in the women's 200 metres.
Lyles was his usual confident self, soaking up the Stadio Olimpico crowd's applause before the final race of the night, and was typically bullish at the end.
"I had a great finish," Lyles said.
"I can go again. Who wants to go?"
Lyles made his standard slow start from the blocks and had five runners ahead of him at the halfway stage, but he stormed to the line in a time of 9.88 seconds.
Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme ran 9.94 to claim a surprise second place, ahead of Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo.
"I am not showing anywhere to lose. I am here to win," Lyles said.
"10 metres before the finish line I knew the race was over and I had already won it. I was thinking about how I was going to celebrate it."
St Lucia's Alfred and American Jefferson-Wooden have dominated women's sprinting of late but this was their first meeting over the longer sprint distance.
Jefferson-Wooden is world champion over the 100m and 200m, while Alfred is the 100m Olympic champion and 200m silver medallist, and the pair were neck-and-neck going into the final straight, but Alfred pulled away with ease and the American had no reply.
Alfred posted a time of 21.93, with Jefferson-Wooden trailing in with 22.17.
"I wanted to go a bit faster but I will take the win," Alfred said.
"I am a lot stronger now than I used to be and that's why I could push a bit extra in the second part of the race."
Likina Amebaw won the women's 5000m, leading home an Ethiopian 1-2-3.
Expectations were high for Italy's Nadia Battocletti, who looked comfortable tucked in behind the pacemakers in the early stages. But once Bahrain's Winfred Yavi upped the pace, Battocletti drifted back down the field.
Yavi's time at the front ended once the Ethiopians took over, with Freweyni Hailu taking the lead on the penultimate lap. Hailu had to settle for third, however, as Amebaw caught Aleshign Baweke before the line.
Norway's Henriette Jaeger took victory in the women's 400m with a time of 49.60, in a race which saw Britain's Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson open her outdoor season after winning the world indoor 800m title.
Jaeger came from behind to power to the line ahead of Czech Lurdes Gloria Manuel.
Hodgkinson, who has the 800m world record in her sights this year, opted to run the shorter distance to work on her speed over the opening lap of the longer race, and came in seventh, posting a personal best of 51.14.
American Trey Cunningham won the men's 110m hurdles in a personal best time of 12.98 seconds, ahead of Jamaican Orlando Bennett.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
