Another victory for controversial US sprinter Justin Gatlin - and perfect practice for his anticipated duel with Usain Bolt at the upcoming Rio Olympics.
Gatlin held off a late challenge from fellow American Ameer Webb to win the 100m in 9.93 seconds on Thursday at the Diamond League meet in Rome.
It was Gatlin's fifth 100 victory in Rome, breaking a tie for the meet record with Maurice Greene.
Webb crossed second in 9.94 and European record holder Jimmy Vicaut of France was third in 9.99.
"I felt Ameer out there. ... That's what I've been training for this season. Last year you saw in Beijing the presence of Usain and I lost my form," Gatlin said, referring to the 2015 world championships where Gatlin finished one hundredth of a second behind Bolt.
"We all have flaws in our race," Gatlin added. "For me, it's I'm not used to having someone next to me when I'm running. So to be able to do that tonight was an accomplishment within itself."
Discounting his wind-aided 9.88 in Eugene, Oregon, last weekend, it was Gatlin's best performance of the season - one hundredth faster than the 9.94 he ran in both Shanghai and Beijing.
Gatlin, 34, has served two doping bans, returning to the sport for the second time in August 2010.
The performance of the night in Rome came from Almaz Ayana, who ran the second fastest women's 5000m of all time, coming within a few of strides of breaking the world record.
Half a lap ahead of her competitors, Ayana crossed in 14:12.59 - just short of fellow Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba's eight-year-old world mark of 14:11.15. Mercy Cherono of Kenya crossed a distant second, more than 21 seconds behind.
In the women's 100m, Elaine Thompson of Jamaica used a late kick to win in 10.87 ahead of English Gardner of the United States in 10.92.
In the women's 800m, Caster Semenya of South Africa beat a stellar field by a large margin to win in 1:56.64, matching her own season lead set in Rabat last month.
"I need to be consistent to maintain this shape until the Olympics," Semenya said.
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