Conditions were perfect for the heats, with temperatures of 27° and
with largely favourable following winds. Doucouré opened proceed-
ings by setting a French record of 13.18. Reigning champion García
was next quickest with 13.24. Doucouré (13.23) was again fastest in
the first heat of the next round, but the big shock came in the second
race, won by Olijar (13.26) ahead of Garcia (13.28), but which saw the
demise of Allen Johnson. The favourite to regain the title won in 1996
hit three hurdles hard, finally falling at the ninth. In more than a decade
of international hurdling Johnson had only once previously fallen.
Wignall won the first semi-final ahead of Liu, 13.17 to 13.18, with
Duane Ross (USA) eliminated despite running 13.30. Doucouré again
improved in the other race with a magnificent 13.06, ahead of
Trammell’s 13.17. Liu and Trammell led at the first hurdle in the final,
with Doucouré lagging after a very slow reaction to the gun. Liu
escaped from Trammell at the fourth hurdle, when the Chinese athlete’s
cleaner hurdle clearances began to tell. García closed in on the
American, and Doucouré’s quickness came to the fore, as he moved
into second place by the eighth. The Frenchman hit the ninth, skewed
the 10th and slipped to last place after losing his balance. Liu flowed
onwards oblivious to the events behind him, and reached the line in the
photo-cell time of 12.94, a time which was unusually amended to a
world record equaling 12.91. Trammell won the battle for silver, and
García edged Wignall and Olijar for bronze.
China
United States
Cuba
Jamaica
Latvia
Canada
Brazil
France
Sweden
Haiti
Spain
Russia
Madagascar
Ecuador
Slovenia
Germany
Barbados
Netherlands
Japan
Colombia
South Africa
Sudan
SCG
Croatia
Ukraine
South Korea
Portugal
Great Britain
Indonesia
Georgia
Hungary
Liberia
Estonia
Saudi Arabia
