Great Britain's Phillips Idowu has won the gold medal in the triple jump at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
Idowu claimed Britain's second gold medal of the World Championships in Berlin with a brilliant performance.
The 30-year-old Londoner produced a personal best of 17.73 metres in the Olympic Stadium to beat great rival Nelson Evora of Portugal into second place by 18 centimetres.
Idowu, with his hair dyed bright red for the occasion, must have feared a repeat of last year's Olympic final when he trailed Evora by three centimetres following the opening round.
In Beijing, Evora pipped Idowu to gold by five centimetres and the 25-year-old laid down a daunting marker here with a leap of 17.54m with the very first jump of the competition.
Idowu instantly responded with 17.51m and followed that up with 17.44m in the second round after Evora's second effort was a narrow foul.
But it was in the third round that Idowu came up with the best jump of his life, soaring out to 17.73m - five centimetres further than his previous personal best - despite taking off from well behind the board.
Evora improved to 17.55m in the final round but it was not enough and Idowu could begin the celebrations.
Phillips Idowu factfile
1978: December 30 - Born in Hackney, London.
1997: Wins English Schools triple jump, fourth European Junior Championships.
2000: Finishes sixth in Olympic triple jump final.
2001: Wins European Cup.
2002: Takes Commonwealth Games silver with personal best 17.68m behind Jonathan Edwards in Manchester. Fifth in the European Championships.
2003: Undergoes knee surgery to rule him out for a year.
2004: Leads Olympic qualification in Athens but produces three no jumps in final and fails to make final cut of eight.
2006: Wins Commonwealth Games gold in Melbourne. Fifth at European Championships.
2007: Wins European Indoor gold medal with a championship record of 17.56m.
2008: Wins World Indoor title breaking Edwards' Commonwealth and UK record with a jump of 17.35m.
Switches from long time coach John Herbert to UK Athletics' Aston Moore.
Sets world leader outdoors with a leap of 17.58m at the UK Olympic trials.
August - Jumps 17.62 at Beijing Olympics but only takes silver behind Portugal's Nelson Evora.
2009: June 1 - Opens season with a triumphant effort of 17.60 at the Venizelia international meet in Chania.
June 21 - Again loses out to Evora at the European Team Championships in Leiria.
August 18 - Becomes world champion when he pips Evora in Berlin with a leap of 17.73, a personal best.
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