US Indoor 110 metre hurdles champion David Oliver set a world lead time of 12.95 seconds at the Qatar Grand Prix in Doha.

Oliver, 26, became only the 11th man in history to run under 13 seconds in the high hurdles, with a personal best that was only 0.07 seconds behind Chinese sensation Liu Xiang's world record.

"The race in Doha was awesome," Oliver said afterwards. "I didn't get a good start either, if I would have got away better, I could have broke the world record.

"It will come though. I am happy that I was again able to better my PB in Doha like last year.

"Now I am going back home and then to Berlin - I am excited what I will be able to achieve in Berlin. My goal is the final at the Olympics in Beijing."

It was also the joint sixth fastest 110m hurdles run by an American in history.

World women's 200m champion Allyson Felix, meanwhile, ran her first ever sub-11 second 100m as the American won her season-opening race on the same track.

And Norwegian men's sprinter Jaisuma Saidy Ndure set a national record and European lead time of 10.01 seconds with a superb win in the 100m.

The sprints sounded a warning shot ahead of the Olympics, although the men's 100m is likely to be a sub-10 run contested by American Tyson Gay and Jamaica's Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.

Other good performances at Doha included Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic clearing 2.03m, world leads for world Shot Put champions Reese Hoffa (21.48m), Romanian 1500m runner Liliana Popescu (4:05.52), Kenyan Richard Matelong in the steeplechase (8:07.64) and Morrocan Abdelati Iguider in the men's 1500m (3:33.27).

Reda Maher / Eurosport