Kim Collins sprinted to a surprise victory in the 100m at the World Championships on Monday as American runners failed to win a medal for the first time in eight years.
Collins, of the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, won his first world title in a slow time of 10.07 seconds, with 18-year-old Darrel Brown of Trinidad and Tobago taking the silver and Britain's Darren Campbell the bronze.
PHOTO: AP
In a photo finish, Brown, Campbell and fourth-place finisher Dwain Chambers of Britain were all clocked in 10.08 seconds.
PHOTO: AFP
Tim Montgomery, the world-record holder was fifth in 10.11, and fellow American Bernard Williams sixth in 10.13.
Collins, 27, said celebrations in his tiny homeland -- population less than 40,000 -- probably started the moment he crossed the line.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"This is the biggest thing since the country had its independence back in 1983," Collins said. "Trust me it's going to be a little bit crazy down there."
He said his victory proved that small countries can produce big champions.
"It shows everybody that, look man, there are some other people in the world who can do things also," Collins said. "You don't have to be from a big country, a rich country, a rich family. It doesn't really matter as long as you have some kind of talent."
It was the first time since 1995 that Americans failed to win a medal in the marquee event of the championships. Collins said he wasn't surprised.
"They had a bad season all year," he said. "It is good for the Caribbean to go 1-2, but I know the Americans are going to come back with fire the next time we meet."
Collins' winning time was the slowest in the 100m final since the inaugural World Championships in 1983 in Helsinki, Finland, when Carl Lewis won in 10.07. In the following seven championships, the winning time was always under 10 seconds.
"Everybody was running fast from the first heat so we were getting tired," Collins said. "The thing was: who was the strong man was going to win. I must be the strongest man."
Collins ran 10.07 at the 2001 worlds in Edmonton and finished only in sixth. Maurice Greene won that race in 9.82 seconds as all the top five finishers ran under 10 seconds.
Greene, the three-time defending champion, slowed down with a leg muscle injury in his semifinal heat Monday and failed to qualify for the final.
With none of the big name sprinters in dominant form this season, the men's 100m promised to be a wide open event. And that's precisely how it turned out on a breezy night at the Stade de France.
Collins won the bronze medal in the 200m at the 2001 worlds in Edmonton. His first significant international title came when he won the 100m at last year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.
Running in lane 1, and wearing an all-black outfit and knee-length black socks, Collins surged to the front around midway through the race. He held on the rest of the way as the runners lunged for the line in a tight group.
When the result was announced, Collins celebrated in low-key fashion without any of the usual effusive display of 100m winners.
Brown set a world junior record of 10.01 seconds in Sunday's heats, the fastest 100m run of the competition, but had been largely overlooked coming into the championships. Campbell, 29, was a silver medalist in the 200m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics but had never won a medal at the worlds. The other Briton, Dwain Chambers, had been considered one of the pre-race favorites and had the fastest time (10.06 seconds) in the semifinals.
Greene, who was bidding for an unprecedented fourth sprint title, got off to a great start in his semifinal but started grimacing about midway through the race as the field blew past him. He finished eighth and next-to-last, limping across the line and holding the back of left leg.
"I just felt my quad muscle pop, just a little pop in my quad muscle," Greene said. "I kept trying to go through it but it just got worse and worse as I went down the track."
Greene said he would miss the rest of the championships and would not compete in the 400m relay this weekend.
Another American defending champion, Stacy Dragila, was eliminated in the women's pole vault final when she failed to clear 4.60m.
The title went to Russia's Svetlana Feofanova, who equaled the championship record by clearing 4.75m meters. Annika Becker of Germany took the silver with a best vault of 4.70m, while world record-holder Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia managed only 4.65m and settled for bronze.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Edwards' career came to a disappointing end as he pulled out during the men's triple jump final.
The 37-year-old British star -- the defending world champion, reigning Olympic champion and world record-holder -- announced last week he would retire after these championships.
Edwards, who suffered a badly injured ankle two weeks ago, quit after just two jumps of 14.06m and 16.31m. He put on a white track suit jacket and went to watch the rest of the competition from the sidelines.
Sweden's Christian Olsson, the world's dominant performer all year, won the triple jump gold by soaring 17.72m on his first attempt. Yoandri Betanzos of Cuba took the silver with 17.28m and Leevan Sands of the Bahamas bronze with 17.26m. In other finals, South Africa's Jacques Freitag won the men's high jump, clearing a season's world best height of 2.35m; Ivan Tikhon of Belarus won the hammer with a throw of 83.05m; and Irina Yatchenko of Belarus won the women's discus with a throw of 67.32m.
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