100m

Maurice Greene, the overwhelming pre-race favourite took the gold in style. Four years earlier he watched in the stands at Atlanta in tears as Donovan Bailey of Canada won gold. This time roles were reversed, as Bailey failed to qualify through the heats as a result of illness and watched as his crown was stolen.

Greene was mightily impressive in the heats - but so was Dwain Chambers of Britain, who made the final together with Darren Campbell giving Britain a great hope of a medal. Other threats to Greene included his training partner Ato Boldon, of Trinidad, and the exciting Obadele Thompson of Barbados.

But Greene was not to be denied and easily lived up to his billing as the world's fastest man. He blazed ahead of the rest and was first across the line in 9.87 seconds, with Boldon in second and Thompson third.

Boldon was the only other man to beat 10 seconds as he held off Thompson's challenge to grab silver in 9.99secs.

Chambers claimed fourth spot, missing out on a medal by a fraction while Campbell came in a creditable sixth.

In the women's event, Marion Jones reigned supreme. Well before the final it was clear that no other athlete stood a chance of getting near her, and so it proved. She destroyed the field, claiming the first of the five golds she was chasing in a superb time of 10.75 seconds.

Trailing nearly half a second behind - the biggest winning margin since 1952 - was Ekaterini Thanou of Greece, with the bronze medal going to Jamaican Tanya Lawrence. Merlene Ottey, Lawrence's more celebrated team-mate, could only manage fourth place.