Robles pulls a fast one,disqualified

When I approached the ninth hurdle,Robles pulled me. It made me slow down, Liu,who had finished third but was bumped up to silver,said through a translator. At first,I thought I would be the champion or at least second. But Robles pulled me.

Liu did not imply malicious intent on Robles part in a race traditionally rife with flying arms and legs in narrow lanes. I am really sorry about the situation. You know competition, Liu said. Besides,we are good friends. Instead,it was Richardson who ran away with this years biggest prize. Whatever reward I get from doing my best,I will accept. If its gold,silver or bronze,it doesnt matter, Richardson said. Its bittersweet. You never want to see someone like Robles disqualified.

The decision left the Cubans angry. He won the race. Thats what we know, said Robles coach,Santiago Antunez. With David Oliver,Robles and Liu,the three fastest men in history lining up against each other,fireworks were assured.

Oliver was the first man out of the race for gold,plowing into the second hurdle and never recovering. Robles had used his lightning start to build a sizable lead,but slowly Liu got back at him until both were almost level with two of the 10 hurdles remaining.

Robles and Liu first seemed to touch when clearing the ninth hurdle,and then again on the final one. Liu caught the final hurdle between his legs and lost vital momentum as he fell back. Robles had crossed the line in 13.14 seconds,followed by Richardson in 13.16 and the fast slowing Liu in 13.27. Andrew Turner of Britain crossed in 13.44 for bronze.

The Americans won a second sprint title when Carmelita Jeter came back from behind to win the 100 ahead of Jamaican veteran Veronica Campbell-Brown. Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago took bronze. The United States was also expected to top the womens 400,but it was Amantle Montsho who gave Botswana its first medal at a world championship,and a gold one to start out with. Allyson Felix was second in 49.59 and Anastasiya Kapachinskaya of Russia was third in 50.24. Defending champion Sanya Richards-Ross of the United States finished seventh in 51.32.

Pistorious fails to qualify

Double amputee Oscar Pistorius saw his world 400m dream extinguished as defending champion LaShawn Merritt eased into the final just a month after returning from a drugs ban. The controversial South African Blade Runner,who runs with carbon fibre prosthetic running blades and was making history as the first amputee to compete at the worlds,finished last in his semis heat.

Pistorius received a huge cheer from the South Korean crowd and mouthed thank you to the camera as he lined up to race but could not find the pace he needed,timing 46.19sec to finish 22nd out of 24 runners in the semi-finals.

I would really have liked to have performed better tonight. My goal was to make the semi-final and I did that. Its been a great experience. Even if I had run faster tonight I wouldnt have made the final, said an upbeat Pistorius.

Also,Pawel Wojciechowski of Poland won gold the pole vault,clearing 5.90 meters and beating Lazaro Borges of Cuba for silver on a countback of fewer missed attempts. Favorite Renaud Lavillenie of France took bronze with a height of 5.85. Koji Murofushi of Japan won the hammer throw at the age of 36,edging Krisztian Pars of Hungary.

Gowda makes discus final

Vikas Gowda qualified for his maiden finals with a creditable 63.99m effort in the mens discus throw qualification round. Gowda hurled the disc to 63.99m in his second attempt to qualify for Tuesdays finals as the eighth best out of 12 athletes to made the grade.