The Americas lead by nine points from Europe after winning eight of 20 competitions on the opening day of the two-day meet, which also featured regional teams from Africa, and Asia-Pacific.Lagat, the 2007 world champion, won the 5,000 in 13 minutes, 58.23 seconds. Wariner, a three-time Olympic champion, took the 400 in 44.22 seconds. The 4x100 relay team led by Gay finished first, as did Dwight Phillips in the long jump and Christian Catwell in the shot put. Gay, the fastest man this season at 100 meters, was unable to run the individual race because he missed the USA Nationals this season and Continental Cup regulations require that an athlete must have competed in their nation's individual championships.
However, he combined with Daniel Bailey, Wallace Spearmon and Churandy Martina to win the sprint relay in 38.25 seconds. In Gay's absence, Christophe Lamaitre of France won for Europe in the 100 in 10.06 seconds, followed by Bailey for Americas in 10.10. Britain's David Greene added another victory for Europe at 400 hurdles, finishing in 47.88 seconds.
Two other Americas victories in men's competitions came from the triple world champion and 2004 Olympic medalist Phillips, who scored another victory in long jump with 8.34 meters, while Christian Catwell, current world champion, won again in shot put, throwing 21.87. Tomasz Majewski, 2008 Olympic champion, was second with 21.22.
In women's races, Olympic silver medalist Janeth Jepkosgei Businei of Kenya won the 800 for Africa in 1 minute, 57.88 seconds. She was followed by Kenia Sinclair, running for Americas, 0.28 seconds behind. Jepkosgei is having a winning streak lately, having beaten both European leader Mariya Savinova and Caster Semenya a week ago in Brussels. The African team is third with 148 points and Asia-Pacific is last with 134 points.
