Jamaican Danielle Williams has taken took full advantage of the enforced absence of Sally Pearson and an off night from the US contingent to win gold in the 100m hurdles at the world athletics championships in Beijing.
Williams won in her fastest-ever time of 12.57 seconds in a blanket finish as less than a tenth of a second separated the first five placegetters.
German Cindy Roleder (12.59) and Alina Talay from Belarus (12.66) claimed the minor medals, with defending champion Brianna Rollins relegated to fourth spot.
Another of the favoured US hurdlers, 2008 Olympic champion Dawn Harper-Nelson, crashed into the second barrier in her semi-final and fell over.
Australian Michelle Jenneke was also eliminated at the semi-final stage in a time of 13.01 - one hundredth of a second faster than her heat run.
Pearson, the 2011 world champion and 2012 Olympic gold medallist, is back in Australia recovering from a broken wrist suffered in June.
But with Friday night's winning time the slowest in any world championships final in a decade, Pearson can look forward with considerable optimism to returning for next year's Rio Games, where she will be defending her Olympic title.
Pearson set her PB of 12.28 in the 2011 world championships final and stopped the clock at 12.35 in the London Olympics final.
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