LILLE, France (AP):

Dayron Robles won the 110-metre hurdles event at the Lille Metropole yesterday, falling just short of the world record he set two weeks earlier with a time of 12.96 seconds.

Petr Svoboda of the Czech Republic was next, .45 seconds behind, while Ukraine's Sergey Demdyuk was third in 13.42.

Robles broke the world record held by Liu Xiang of China with a time of 12.87 on June 12 at the Zlata Tetra Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic, making the 21-year-old Cuban a favourite for the Olympic title along with Liu, the defending champion.

It was Robles' second race since his record performance in Ostrava. He also ran at Sotteville-les-Rouen, France, on June 15, but rain and a delayed programme resulted in a time of 13.48.

Robes has said he wants to run at least six times in Europe leading up to the Olympics. Liu is using another tactic, limiting his races.