Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco cruised to his fourth straight 1,500m World Championship title Wednesday and 400m ace Ana Guevera remained unbeaten in 20 races to give Mexico gold.
El Guerrouj, the world record holder, was never in trouble during the race and finished in leisurely 3 minutes, 31.77 seconds. European champion Mehdi Baala gave the host nation a silver medal.
"I am still the king of 1,500m, I've protected my kingdom," said El Guerrouj. On Thursday, if he feels fit enough, he will run the 5,000m heats and continue his quest for a unique 1,500m-5,000m double at the championships.
PHOTO: AP
Baala clocked 3:32.31 and Ivan Heshko of Ukraine had 3:33.17. Baala had the loud support of a full house at the Stade de France but the Moroccan took control with two laps left and never looked behind.
"I was running against 60,000 people," El Guerrouj said. "It was a magnificent race."
He played air-guitar in celebration and started dancing after he was mobbed by team officials.
Ana Guevara of Mexico won the 400m, setting a personal best and the season's fastest time of 48.89 seconds. Bronze medalist two years ago, Guevara has not been beaten since.
Guevara entered the home straight well in the lead and extended it to beat Lorraine Fenton of Jamaica, who clocked 49.43. Amy Mbacke Thiam of Senegal, the last woman to beat Guevera when she won gold in Edmonton two years ago, settled for bronze in 49.95.
Perdita Felicien gave Canada its first gold of the championships with an upset victory in the women's 100m hurdles. On top of that, it was the first medal for a Canadian woman in championship history. Felicien clocked 12.53 seconds to nip season leader and Pan American champion Brigitte Foster of Jamaica, who ran 12.57. Miesha McKelvy of the US earned the bronze in 12.67.
"It is just shocking," the 22-year old Canadian said. "My goal was just to run the final and hopefully break the national record" -- which she did.
The field was left wide open with the elimination of defending champion Anjanette Kirkland and former three-time champion Gail Devers, both American, in the heats.
Svetlana Krivelyova of Russia won the gold medal in the shot put with a throw of 20.63m. Nadezhda Ostapchuk of Belarus was second at 20.12m and Vita Pavlysh of Ukraine took bronze at 20.08m.
Former Olympic and three-time world champion Astrid Kumbernuss of Germany failed to qualify for the final.
Four-time defending long jump champion and Olympic gold medalist Ivan Pedroso pulled out after the first qualifying jump with a foot injury.
Robert Korzeniowski of Poland beat his world best time by more than half a minute to capture his third 50km title and confirm himself as the greatest race walker in history. Korzeniowski, a multiple Olympic, world and European champion, finished in 3 hours, 36.03 minutes, beating his old 50km mark of 3:36.39.
Russia's German Skurygin set a national record of 3:36.42 to take silver and Andreas Erm set a German record of 3:37.46 for bronze.
Korzeniowski is already a triple Olympic champion. At the 2000 Sydney Games, he completed a unique double in the 20km and 50km events.
"It was always a dream to come to Paris," Korzeniowski told the crowd at the Stade de France. He trains in France, speaks fluent French and French fans have long considered him an adopted son.
Kelli White of the US, the 100m champion, stayed on course for a sprint double by cruising into the 200m final, winning her heat with a time of 22.50 seconds, the fourth fastest overall.
In the decathlon, Tom Pappas of the US led with one event -- the 1,500m -- remaining.
Pappas pulled past early surprise leader Dmitry Karpov of Kazakhstan by clearing 5.10m in the pole vault. From being 67 points behind Karpov after the discus, Pappas jumped to a 98-point lead. Karpov cleared only 4.40m in the pole vault and had only a throw of 47.53m to fall back into third after the javelin.
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