Controversy rocked the second round of the men's 100m as false starts turned the second heat into something approaching a debacle.
At the first attempt Jamaican Dwight THOMAS broke. This left the field with no further warnings, as the new IAAF rule dictates. At the second attempt the field was recalled for another false start. The reaction times read that both Jon DRUMMOND (USA) and Asafa POWELL (JAM) were inside the legal one tenth of a second.
At this point the circus began. Drummond, the most demonstrative athlete on the world circuit, was clearly unhappy with the reading. He lay in his lane for some time while officials informed him that he was disqualified. Adamant that he hadn't moved early, television replays showed that both athlete's rear feet twitched prior to their main movement.
The lengthy delay eventually led to the athletes being taken from the track, to run after the final heat.
The other heats were overshadowed by the drama. The first was taken out by American pair Tim MONTGOMERY and Bernard WILLIAMS, 10.04s and 10.18s. A best for 2003 for the World record holder.
The second completed heat, after the postponement, saw a clean start and Trinidad and Tobago's Darrel BROWN streaked to a world junior record. He lowered Dwain CHAMBERS' (GBR) mark from 10.06 to 10.01. The World Junior champion adds this to his world under 18 best. Behind him British pair Darren CAMPBELL and Mark LEWIS-FRANCIS qualified with Eric NKANSAH (GHA).
In the next heat Commonwealth Champion Kim COLLINS (SKN) got to the front in the final five metres to win in 10.02s. He was closely followed by Chambers (10.03), Deli ALIU (NGR) and defending champion Maurice GREENE (USA) filling the final qualifying spot.
Then the delayed heat was replayed. With pictures of a disconsolate Drummond beamed on to the video screen, the officials found it impossible to get hush for a fresh start as the corwd's boos made their feelings clear.
Eventually relative peace was eventually established and the race got under way, with six competitors vying for four semi-final spots. World leader Patrick JOHNSON (AUS) was clearly most unsettled by the furore and dwelled in his blocks.
Ato BOLDON (TRI), Drummond's HSI training partner, clearly gained some adrenaline push from the drama and ran his best time for a number of years. He crossed in first in 10.09s. Next in was Uchenna EMEDOLU (NGR)(10.13s), follwed by Nicolas MACROZONARIS (CAN) (10.16s).
The next two runners Frenchman Ronald POGNON and Dwight Thomas, the man who broke first time around, dead-heated for fourth in 10.23s, so both progress. Accordingly the unlucky Johnson, in 10.27s, was the only one to miss out.
Many had postulated that the blue riband event was going through a fallow year with few fast times, but this round proved that it is a hot bed of drama.
