David Oliver of the U.S. crosses the finish at the IAAF Diamond League athletics meeting last year.GONZALO FUENTES/Reuters
American David Oliver avenged a May loss to former Olympic and world champion Liu Xiang of China with a 2011-leading 12.94 seconds in the 110-metres hurdles at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League on Saturday.
Liu finished second in 13.00 seconds.
"I took care of business at the start like I didn't do (in the loss) in Shanghai," Oliver said.
Liu, the former world record holder, appeared to take advantage of his new starting technique to take the early lead over Oliver.
By the third hurdle, however, the American record holder was in command.
Liu, who his coach says still feels foot pain from a 2008 surgery, had beaten Oliver by clocking 13.07 seconds in Shanghai to snap the American's 18-meeting win streak.
"I am happy with my time," Liu said, but he expressed disappointment with his finish. "My foot is a little sore."
Olympic 400-metres hurdles gold medallist Angelo Taylor topped countryman Jeremy Wariner in the 400-metres with a time of 45.16 seconds.
Wariner, the 2004 Olympic champion, took second in 45.43.
South African paralympian Oscar Pistorius finished a disappointing last in 46.33 seconds.
In other early events, Sudanese Abubaker Khamis clocked a season-leading one minute, 43.68 seconds in the 800-metres and American world silver medallist Lashinda Demus won the women's 400-metres hurdles in 53.31 seconds.
Season leaders were also set in the women's triple jump, where Ukranian Olha Saladukha celebrated her 28th birthday by bounding 14.98 metres, and the women's shot put with Olympic bronze medallist Nadezhda Ostapchuk of Belarus throwing 20.59 metres.