Above: Kirani James

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Grenada’s Kirani James started his 2014 Diamond League season with a bang, winning the 400M at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meet this weekend in Oregon.

The 21-year-old James finished in 43.97 seconds, the same time as American Lashawn Merritt, but won with a late lean in a photo finish at the end of the race. It also represented an improvement over his second-place finish at the Prefontaine last year.

The 43.97 time is now the world lead for 2014.

Saudi Arabia’s Youssef Ahmed Masrahi finished third with a time of 44.77 seconds, followed by the Bahamas’ Christopher Brown.

Merritt had held the early-season world lead following his victory at the opening Diamond League meet in Doha earlier this month.

It was as good a start as James could have asked for following a disappointing end to the 2013 season that saw him finish seventh in the 400M at the World Championships in Moscow.

James won Grenada’s first-ever Olympic gold medal (and first-ever medal of any kind) at the 2012 London Olympics in the 400M.