White's win overshadowed by men's chaos

SAINT-DENIS, France -- Jon Drummond sprawled on the track, bellowing at race officials who had just red-carded him for a false start. His jaw clenched, he refused to let the 100 meters resume.

Chaos ensued Sunday at the World Championships.

There were long delays in completing the quarterfinal heats. The huge crowd turned rowdy. Drummond wept on the grass of an adjacent practice track, then floated in the steeplechase pit.

The drama was so intense, and the acrimony between runners and race officials so raw, that Kelli White's victory in the women's 100 an hour later seemed almost an afterthought.

With Olympic champion Marion Jones doing TV commentary on the race, White ran away from the field to win in 10.85 seconds. Jones, who gave birth in late June, hopes to return for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

U.S. compatriot Torri Edwards won the silver medal in 10.93 and 1991 world champion Zhanna Block of Ukraine was third.

The craziness began when Jamaica's Dwight Thomas was called for a false start. Then both Drummond and Jamaica's Asafa Powell were called for leaving their blocks too early.

TV replays were inconclusive, but the race's official computers indicated a false start.

Drummond lay on his back on the track for several minutes, yelling, "I did not move, I did not move," at a race official who stood over him with a red card. He stood up, walked around, then flopped to the track again.

Finally, he arose and ripped off his racing top as he walked away.

Each time the remaining runners got into their blocks, spectators at the Stade de France booed and whistled. It took seven attempts before the heat finally took place, 45 minutes after Drummond's disqualification.

Patrick Johnson of Australia, who held the world's fastest time this season of 9.93, finished last and didn't qualify for the semifinals.

In other finals Sunday, Kenenisa Bekele passed compatriot Haile Gebrselassie on the final lap to lead a 1-2-3 Ethiopian sweep of the men's 10,000. Gebrselassie, a four-time 10,000 world champion, was second.

Russia's Yelena Nikolayeva won the women's 20-kilometer walk and Carolina Kluft of Sweden won the heptathlon.