400m hurdles

Chris Rawlinson of Britain completely failed to live up to his pre-race billing and did not reach the final, to his immense disappointment.

It was a shame because the final was a wide-open race. In the end, American Angelo Taylor won a tight race in a time of 47.50 seconds, squeezing Saudi Arabian Hadi Souan Somayli into silver. South African Llewellyn Herbert won the bronze in 47.81 seconds.

In the women's event, Natascha Danvers did well to reach the final, where she finshed eighth, giving her something work on for the future. The winner was a surprise. In her first season competing in the event, 31-year-old Irina Privalova off Russia, a former 100m sprinter, got her 14-stride between the hurdles pattern absolutely spot-on and made winning the gold medal look easy.

It was only her fifth ever 400m hurdles competition and she beat off the challenge of the reigning Olympic champion Deon Hemmings of Jamaica who posted a time of 53.57. Bronze went to World champion Nezha Bidouane, of Morocco.