World champion Maurice Greene ran superbly to clock 9.92 seconds and leave a star-studded 100 metres field struggling in his wake at the IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on a night when the Americans showed that they are still the best in many of the key events.
Trinidad and Tobago's Ato Boldon may have run the fastest time in the world this year of 9.86 seconds, but he played just a bit part to fleet-footed American Greene.
After two false starts, Boldon started well, but at the 30-metre mark Greene went up a gear to leave him trailing and only his second-placed countryman John Drummond and third-placed Obadele Thompson of the Bahamas gave him any competition at all. Both clocked 10.00.
Two continental champions crowned last week were well and truly beaten to show the difference in standard between the Americans and the rest on the night.
African champion Frankie Fredericks of Namibia was sixth and European champion Darren Campbell took seventh spot.
Olympic champion Michael Johnson easily beat the field in the 400 metres on the same track where he once ran 43.66 - his fastest time outside major championships and American trials. Johnson clocked 44.28 this time.
World champion Marion Jones crushed the field to notch up a 100 metre time just one hundredth of a second outside her own world best this year.
The American finished two metres ahead of the field to clock 10.72 - which no other athlete has managed this season. Greece's Ekaterina Thanou finished second in 11.02.
There was no joy for Susan Smith in the women's 400 metres hurdles, which Jamaica's Olympic champion Deon Hemmings won in 53.27, beating in-form American Kim Batten into second spot. Newly-crowned European champion Ionela Tirlea of Romania was third.
Smith had a difficult lane draw, running almost blindly out in lane eight, and although she paced herself well in the first 200 metres, she was unable to accelerate off the last bend to make any impact on the leaders.
Her time of 56.25 was nearly two seconds outside her best.
Portugal's Carla Sacramento won the women's mile in 4:23.41 in the absence of Olympic 800 metre and 1,500m champion Svetlana Masterkova of Russia, who pulled out at the last minute.
Algeria's Noureddine Morceli won the men's 1,500 metres with 3:34.98, and in an incredible finish over the last 30 metres of the men's 800 metres, Kenya's world champion William Chirchir bustled through from fourth place to win the two-lap event in 1:45.63.
Daniel Komen of Kenya saw his attack on the world 3,000 metres record end in failure and he could not even win the event. Fellow countryman Luke Kipkosgei clocked 7:36.48, nearly 16 seconds outside Komen's world record, to finish first and edge Komen into second spot.
Britain's newly-crowned European triple jump champion Jonathan Edwards could only finish second with 17.00 metres to Germany's Charles-Mikael Friedek who jumped 17.07.
