Nehemiah, Witherspoon Lose Races in Italy

Canada’s Mark McKoy upset Americans Renaldo Nehemiah and Jack Pierce in the 110-meter hurdles at an international meet at Grossetto, Italy, Sunday night.

McKoy’s time was 13.40 seconds, compared to 13.42 for Nehemiah. Pierce had a 13.46.

Another upset came in the 100 meters, where Austrian Andreas Berger ran a 10.44 to beat Mark Witherspoon by .03 of a second.

American sprinters Evelyn Ashford and Rochelle Stevens won the women’s 100 and 200 meters in 11.37 and 23.33 seconds, respectively.

Another American victory was scored by Steve Lewis in the men’s 400 meters (45.40). And Thomas Jefferson ran a 20.78 in the 200 meters to edge Italy’s Stefano Tilli.

Samuel Matete of Zambia, who ran the second fastest 400-meter hurdles in history last week, ran an unimpressive 48.11 to beat American Nat Page.

The 23-year-old Zambian, who has run three times below 48 seconds this month, apparently wasn’t motivated. His toughest rival, American Danny Harris, did not enter the race and watched from the stands.

Matete beat Harris in Zurich last week, when he ran the second-best time ever (47.10). This race was mainly a tuneup for the World Championships, which begin in Tokyo Aug. 24.