Jenny Meadows wins silver and sets new British record

Jenny Meadows ran the fastest indoor 800 metres of her life to smash her own British record at the World Indoor Championships but it was still not enough to take the gold medal.

Instead, the title went to Russian Mariya Savinova, the reigning European champion, who overtook the Wigan athlete in the final straight to triumph in a world-leading time of 1min 58.26sec.

Meadows crossed the line in 1min 58.43sec, slicing a huge chunk off her previous British record of 1min 59.11 which she had set only last month at the Birmingham Grand Prix.

The 28-year-old, who was named captain of the GB team as a reward for her plucky 800m bronze medal at the outdoor World Championships last summer, had used her pre-championship speech to urge her team-mates to perform with confidence and not be cowed by the occasion in Doha.

Buoyed by the sound of ‘God Save The Queen’ booming around the Aspire Dome just seconds before the race as Dwain Chambers received his 60m gold medal, Meadows followed her own advice by tucking in behind the early leader, American Alysia Johnson, before surging to the front 300 metres from home.

But as a gap quickly opened up, Savinova responded to Meadows’ attack, clawing her way back on to her shoulder by the final bend before sprinting past her with 20 metres to go.

“With 100 metres to go I was thinking, ‘I’m going to win it, I’m going to win it’,” said Meadows.

“I looked up at the screen and I saw who was behind me and I kept thinking, ‘keep going, keep driving’.

“But Maria has run 52.05 for 400 metres this year so I knew I was up against it. When she passed I just kept on driving.

“But the time says it all. Hopefully, there are big things in me to keep building on, but I will have to be content with silver this time.”

Meadows will have a chance to avenge her defeat at this summer’s European Championships, and she has already set herself a target of 1min 57.50sec outdoors. Yesterday’s performance suggests she is well on course.

Her rapid improvement within the last year was more psychological than physical she said, having overcome the inferiority complex that used to plague her in the big races.

“I have been in this short of shape previously and it is like I have been too scared to go out and execute it,” she said.

Great Britain & NI take bronze in men's relay

An excellent weekend for Team Aviva GB & NI ended on a high note when the men's 4x400m relay team picked up bronze in an event that was dominated by the winning team from the USA.

Richard Buck, Chris Clarke, Nigel Levine, and Conrad Williams combined to register a time of 3:07.52, that although enough for a bronze was considerably behind the USA team's time of 3:03.40.

Belgium's Cedric van Branteghem; Kevin Borlee; Antoine Gillet and Jonathan Borlee saw off Team GB by clocking up a combined effort of 3:06.94, which further illustrates the dominance of the Americans in this event.

Jamaal Torrance and Greg Nixon did the hard work which meant that, in reality, Tavaris Tate and Bershawn Jackson had to do little to ensure that their nation would bag the gold.

Cuban Dayton Robles added the men's 60m hurdles world indoor crown to his growing list of honours on Sunday.

Robles' crucial dip at the line saw him time a championship record of 7.34 seconds, 0.02sec ahead of veteran American Terrence Trammell.

Trammell's compatriot David Oliver claimed bronze in 7.44sec but China's defending champion Liu Xiang was seventh, having struggled with his nagging achilles tendon problem.

"I wanted to break the world record here," said Robles, the Olympic 110m hurdles champion and world record holder.

"Many people at home were expecting this gold. I did it here with the world's best hurdlers so I am very happy."

Kenyan-born American Bernard Lagat rolled back the years to win the men's world indoor 3000m crown on Sunday, six years after his last gold when he was running for the country of his birth.

The 35-year-old Lagat, a double gold medallist at the 2007 outdoor world championships and a three-time Olympian - for Kenya in 2000 and 2004 and the United States in 2008 - produced a final-lap kick to time 7min 37.97sec.

Spain's Sergio Sanchez took silver in 7:39.55 with Kenyan Sammy Mutahi claiming bronze at 0.35sec.

Defending champion Tariku Bekele slipped to fourth having been in the fight for most of the race.

"My kids woke up at 7am in the morning to watch their daddy, so I needed to show them something," said Lagat.

"I was the first Kenyan to win in this event and now the first American. I wanted to make history."

Belarus' Nadzeya Ostapchuk trumped New Zealand's reigning champion Valerie Vili to win the women's shot put at the World Indoor Championships on Sunday.

Ostapchuk found the energy to produce a sixth and final effort of 20.85 metres, beating Vili's best of 20.49.

Vili, the reigning Olympic and world outdoor champion, claimed silver with another Belarus putter, Natallia Mikhnevich, taking bronze with 20.42m.

France's Teddy Tamgho set a new world indoor record of 17.90 metres for the men's triple jump.

Dwain Chambers wins the men's 60m gold medal

Dwain Chambers described it as the hardest six seconds of his life though the Londoner made it look easy as he scorched to the gold medal at the World Indoor Championships.

The 31-year-old made it a day of double celebration for Britain after Jessica Ennis’s gold medal 90 minutes earlier, powering to victory in 6.48sec – the fastest time in the world this year.

American Mike Rodgers was second in 6.53sec while Antigua’s Daniel Bailey took the bronze in 6.57sec.

It was Chambers’ first senior global title and vindication for his hard work and perseverance in the face extreme pressure from officialdom following his return to athletics two years ago.

UK Athletics tried to prevent him from taking part in the 2008 World Indoor trials on the grounds that he had not been on the anti-doping register for long enough after his flirtation with American football and it took the threat of legal action from the sprinter to force the governing body to back down.

He went on to win a share of the silver at the World Indoors in Valencia before claiming the European indoor crown, and the European indoor record, in Turin last year.

Now back in the favour with the UK Athletics hierarchy, though still subject to a lifetime Olympic ban, he said his biggest emotion was relief at having confirmed his status as the pre-race favourite.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” he said. “That was the hardest six seconds of my life, but I’m glad I stuck at it and did the best I could.

“I’m pleased to be here. The crowd and other athletes have been very supportive so that helps me to go out there and do my job. I’ve had great support from the UK staff and everybody and I’m just grateful.”

Excluded from most of the world’s big-money invitation meets following his two-year drug ban, Chambers now has to rely on international championships to test himself against the world’s best sprinters. They also offer an opportunity to make a living from his sport.

His first prize in Doha of $40,000 will go some way to ease his financial problems, though 25 per cent will go straight into the coffers of the International Association of Athletics Federations to reduce the debt he owes for prize money earned while on banned drugs.

“Winning was more important but obviously the prize money is going to be a great bonus,” he said. “I’m earning a living now so I’m able to relax a bit more and get on with the summer.”

He admitted that he could not have imagined being hailed as a world sprint champion during his time as would-be American football wide receiver just a few years ago.

“A lot can change you know, and it has, for the better,” he said.

“I was even throwing the bottle up in the air trying to get my football skills but it wasn’t working, so I this is where I’m at. I’m just a happy man. Really happy.”

Jessica Ennis wins gold medal in pentathlon

Now there is no doubt. After beating two Olympic medallists on her way to her heptathlon world title last summer, Jessica Ennis defeated all three to claim the pentathlon crown at the World Indoor Championships.

What is more, she did so with the third highest pentathlon score of all time, surpassing Kelly Sotherton’s British mark and cementing her reputation as queen of the multi-events.

“It’s mad,” she said. “I can’t believe it. It was hard because having a good year last year meant that everyone was expecting me to win this year so I’m just glad that I’ve delivered and brought home a gold again.”

As in Berlin last year, the Sheffield athlete led from the very first event and was never overtaken, achieving two lifetime bests on her way to a final score of 4,937.

Once again, Ukraine’s Olympic champion, Nataliya Dobrynska, had no answer to the Briton’s all-round running, jumping and throwing ability, finishing in the silver-medal position a distant 86 points behind.

Third was Russian Tatyana Chernova, the bronze medallist in Beijing, while American Hyleas Fountain, the Olympic silver medallist, was fourth.

It is a measure of Ennis’s brilliance that her victory was even tinged with a sense of anti-climax as she missed out on the world record of 4,991 points set 18 years ago by Irina Belova though tainted a year later by the Russian’s four-year ban for drugs.

To achieve the mark, Ennis needed to run 2min 8.78sec or faster in the final event, the 800 metres – more than a second inside her previous best set on an outdoor track.

But after staying on pace for the opening two laps, the weariness set in and she crossed the line in 2min 12.55sec.

The gold medal had been all but guaranteed in the preceding event when a long jump of 6.44m – a distance she has never achieved before inside or outside – left her on top of the standings with one of her strongest events remaining.

With Dobrynska, Chernova and Fountain all weaker on paper, Ennis needed only to avoid falling over to claim her second world crown.

After setting a sizzling 8.04sec in the 60m hurdles, the second fastest in her career, she suffered a scare in the high jump when she rattled the bar with her third and final attempt at 1.90m – a height she normally clears without alarm.

But somehow the bar stayed on its supports and refused to drop, giving Ennis a crucial extra advantage over Fountain, who had set a personal best of 1.87m.

Her first lifetime best of the day came in the shot put, where her 14.01m effort prevented the powerful Dobyrnska from eroding her advantage, before her brilliant performance in the long jump removed any doubt that the crown would be hers.

“The long jump’s been an event I’ve struggled with so much in the past and that’s the best jump I’ve done in a championship heptathlon or pentathlon,” she said.

Next stop will be the European Championships in Barcelona in July, where Ennis will have the chance to extend her dominance over Dobrynska and Chernova.

But for now she is the new queen of Doha. Or make that, Jessica, queen of the desert.

Relieved Yelena Isinbayeva looks forward to pole vault final

Yelena Isinbayeva qualified for the pole vault final at the World Indoor Championships on her last attempt.

Only months after she was eliminated from the World Outdoor Championships for failing to clear a height, the Olympic champion from Russia was facing the same situation when she prepared for her third and final attempt at 4.55 metres. This time, she made it to Saturday's final.

"Now I am looking forward to the final with the aim to win and break the world record," Isinbayeva said.

It would be her 28th world record overall if she goes beyond five metres on Saturday.

Isinbayeva lost her world championship title in the German capital last August when she failed to clear a height, despite being the overwhelming favorite as the two-time defending champion.

Indoors, she is a three-time defending champion, world record holder and unbeaten this season. But still, she needed all her mental resilience to make it to the final.

In Berlin, she put the bar too high on her opening attempt and paid the price. Despite repeating time and again she had learned her lesson, she again started jumping when everybody else had already finished.

Usually she thrives when all eyes are on her only. This time, she said she was troubled by equipment problems with the bar which forced her to interrupt her preparations two times before her first attempt.

"So I had to wait 30 more minutes," Isinbayeva said. "So of course it's difficult to wait, wait all the time."

World Indoor Athletics 2010: day one results

The all the action on the opening day of the IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships.

Day one

Men's 1500m

Heat 1: 1 Amine Laalou (Mar) 3mins 39.96secs, 2 Juan van Deventer (Rsa) 3:40.07, 3 Gideon Gathimba (Ken) 3:40.08, 4 Abdelkader Bakhtache (Fra) 3:40.49, 5 Alvaro Rodriguez (Spa) 3:40.96, 6 Bruno Albuquerque (Por) 3:44.32, 7 Christian Klein (Ger) 3:46.14, 8 Abubaker Ali Kamal (Qat) 3:46.51

Heat 2: 1 Deresse Mekonnen (Eth) 3mins 39.66secs, 2 Diego Ruiz (Spa) 3:40.00, 3 Haron Keitany (Ken) 3:40.04, 4 Will Leer (USA) 3:42.16, 5 Tim Bayley (Gbr) 3:42.57, 6 Peter van der Westhuizen (Rsa) 3:45.76, 7 Thamer Kamal Ali (Qat) 3:49.64, 8 Alex Ngouari-Mouissi (Cgo) 4:02.55, 9 Ajmal Amirov (Taj) 4:03.75

Heat 3: 1 Abdalaati Iguider (Mar) 3mins 37.14secs, 2 Mekonnen Gebremedhin (Eth) 3:38.90, 3 Garrett Heath (USA) 3:39.25, 4 Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad (Fra) 3:39.63, 5 Adrian Blincoe (Nzl) 3:40.50, 6 Goran Nava (Ser) 3:42.79, 7 Christian Obrist (Ita) 3:46.33

DNS: Belal Mansoor Ali (Brn)

Men's 60m

Heat 1: 1 Trell Kimmons (USA) 6.61secs, 2 Samuel Francis (Qat) 6.63, 3 Abraham Morlu (Lbr) 6.68, 4 Masashi Eriguchi (Jpn) 6.75, 5 Teddy Tinmar (Fra) 6.88, 6 Calvin Kang Li Loong (Sin) 6.91, 7 Danny D'Souza (Sey) 6.97, 8 Jared Lewis (Vin) 7.06

Heat 2: 1 Dwain Chambers (Gbr) 6.59secs, 2 Ogho-Oghene Egwero (Ngr) 6.73, 3 Ibrahim Kabia (Sie) 6.76, 4 Chun Ho Lai (Hkg) 6.88, 5 aggelos Aggelakis (Gre) 6.94, 6 John Howard (Fsm) 7.30, 7 Moussa Camara (Gui) 7.39

Heat 3: 1 Brian Mariano (Ned) 6.66secs, 2 Barakat Mubarak Al-Harthi (Oma) 6.69, 3 Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (Gbr) 6.72, 4 Aleksandr Vashurkin (Rus) 6.75, 5 Yasser Al-Nashri (Ksa) 6.83, 6 Wei-Chen Yi (Tpe) 6.96, 7 Leon Mengloi (Plu) 7.45, 8 Quaski Itaia (Nru) 7.66

Heat 4: 1 Mike Rodgers (USA) 6.69secs, 2 Rodney Green (Bah) 6.73, 3 Ronald Pognon (Fra) 6.73, 4 Ben Youssef Meite (Civ) 6.76, 5 Martin Krabbe (Den) 6.79, 6 David Lescay (Cub) 6.79, 7 Jack Iroga (Sol) 7.35

Heat 5: 1 Angel David Rodriguez (Spa) 6.67secs, 2 Nesta Carter (Jam) 6.69, 3 Vicente de Lima (Bra) 6.75, 4 Roman Smirnov (Rus) 6.75, 5 Moses Kamut (Van) 7.32, 6 Yacouba Mamane (Nge) 7.50

DQ: Rolf Fongue (Swi)

DNS: Mohamed Faisal (Bru)

Heat 6: 1 Ryan Moseley (Aut) 6.76secs, 2 Churandy Martina (Ned) 6.77, 2 Pascal Mancini (Swi) 6.77, 4 Lerone Clarke (Jam) 6.78, 5 Adrian Ferreira (Par) 7.26, 6 Federico Gorrieri (Smr) 7.31, 7 Sibusiso Matsenjwa (Swa) 7.39, 8 Jalal Kassab (Ple) 7.65

Heat 7: 1 Daniel Bailey (Ant) 6.70secs, 2 Reza Ghasemi (Irn) 6.78, 3 Peter Emelieze (Ngr) 6.78, 4 Ivan Mocholi (Spa) 6.79, 5 Holder da Silva (Gbs) 7.07, 6 George Pine (Kir) 7.46, 7 Tiraa Arere (Cok) 7.64

Women's 3000m

Heat 1: 1 Sentayehu Ejigu (Eth) 9mins 00.34secs, 2 Sara Moreira (Por) 9:01.01, 3 Vivian Cheruiyot (Ken) 9:01.35, 4 Rene Kalmer (Rsa) 9:01.41, 5 Barbara Parker (Gbr) 9:01.52, 6 Renata Plis (Pol) 9:02.68, 7 Sara Hall (USA) 9:04.25, 8 Yelena Zadorozhnaya (Rus) 9:09.52, 9 Hazel Murphy (Irl) 9:17.60, 10 Viktoriia Poliudina (Kgz) 9:30.76

Heat 2: 1 Meseret Defar (Eth) 8mins 48.23secs, 2 Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet (Ken) 8:48.60, 3 Alemitu Bekele (Tur) 8:48.73, 4 Layes Abdullayeva (Aze) 8:49.65, 5 Jessica Augusto (Por) 8:50.81 , 6 Desiree Davila (USA) 8:51.08, 7 Lidia Chojecka (Pol) 8:52.14, 8 Adrienne Herzog (Ned) 8:53.24, 9 Ancuta Bobocel (Rom) 8:54.08, 10 Deirdre Byrne (Irl) 8:58.94, 11 Gemma Turtle (Gbr) 9:17.55

Women's 60m

Heat 1: 1 Ginnie Powell (USA) 8.07secs, 2 Lucie Skrobakova (Cze) 8.09, 3 Tatyana Dektyareva (Rus) 8.12, 4 Lisa Urech (Swi) 8.15, 5 Gemma Bennett (Gbr) 8.20, 6 Shantia Moss (Dom) 8.34

Heat 2: 1 Eline Berings (Bel) 8.00secs, 2 Christina Vukicevic (Nor) 8.01, 3 Perdita Felicien (Can) 8.04, 4 Aleksandra Fedoriva (Rus) 8.05, 5 Yevgeniya Snihur (Ukr) 8.22, 6 Aisseta Diawara (Fra) 8.32

Heat 3: 1 Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (Can) 7.94secs, 2 Lacena Golding-Clarke (Jam) 8.02, 3 Nadine Hildebrand (Ger) 8.10, 4 Elisabeth Davin (Bel) 8.23, 5 Seun Adigun (Ngr) 8.58, 6 Agustina Bawele (Ina) 8.99

DNS: Nevin Yanit (Tur)

Heat 4: 1 LoLo Jones (USA) 7.95secs, 2 Vonette Dixon (Jam) 8.04, 3 Anay Tejeda (Cub) 8.11, 4 Alice Decaux (Fra) 8.14, 5 Alina Talai (Blr) 8.15, 6 Gertrude Lossou (Tog) 9.62

Men's 800m

Heat 1: 1 Ismail Ahmed Ismail (Sud) 1min 46.69secs, 2 Andrew Osagie (Gbr) 1:47.40, 3 Kleberson Davide (Bra) 1:49.69, 4 Brice Etes (Mon) 1:53.52

DQ: Nick Symmonds (USA)

Heat 2: 1 Abubaker Kaki (Sud) 1min 47.48secs, 2 David Bustos (Spa) 1:47.65, 3 Fabiano Pecanha (Bra) 1:48.29, 4 Ed Aston (Gbr) 1:50.32, 5 Edgar Cortez (Nca) 1:58.47

Heat 3: 1 Kevin Hautcoeur (Fra) 1min 50.61secs, 2 Jakub Holusa (Cze) 1:50.64, 3 Mario Scapini (Ita) 1:50.74, 4 David McCarthy (Irl) 1:51.88, 5 Mattias Claesson (Swe) 1:51.96

Heat 4: 1 Boaz Kiplagat Lalang (Ken) 1min 49.16secs, 2 Luis Alberto Marco (Spa) 1:49.57, 3 Duane Solomon (USA) 1:49.69, 4 Mohammad Al-Azemi (Kuw) 1:52.54, 5 Elie Monga (Cod) 1:57.02, 6 Iulio Lafai (Sam) 2:07.08

Heat 5: 1 Adam Kszczot (Pol) 1min 50.15secs, 2 Andreas Rapatz (Aut) 1:50.35, 3 Moise Joseph (Hai) 1:50.43, 4 Vitalij Kozlov (Lit) 1:50.92, 5 Belal Mansoor Ali (Brn) 1:51.22, 6 Moussa Camara (Mli) 1:55.84

Men's 60m Heptathlon

Heat 1: 1 Bryan Clay (USA) 1003pts, 2 Trey Hardee (USA) 955, 3 Oleksiy Kasyanov (Ukr) 907, 4 Aleksey Drozdov (Rus) 854, 5 Leonel Suarez (Cub) 830, 6 Roman Sebrle (Cze) 813, 7 Andrei Krauchanka (Blr) 806, 8 Aleksandr Pogorelov (Rus) 656

Men's Long Jump Heptathlon

Group A: 1 Oleksiy Kasyanov (Ukr) 1005pts, 2 Roman Sebrle (Cze) 932, 3 Andrei Krauchanka (Blr) 905, 4 Aleksey Drozdov (Rus) 883, 5 Trey Hardee (USA) 881, 6 Bryan Clay (USA) 878, 7 Leonel Suarez (Cub) 842

DNS: Aleksandr Pogorelov (Rus)

Men's Shot Put Heptathlon

Group A: 1 Aleksey Drozdov (Rus) 924pts, 2 Roman Sebrle (Cze) 833, 3 Bryan Clay (USA) 809, 4 Oleksiy Kasyanov (Ukr) 762, 5 Trey Hardee (USA) 755, 6 Andrei Krauchanka (Blr) 703, 7 Leonel Suarez (Cub) 703

DNS: Aleksandr Pogorelov (Rus)

Women's 800m

Heat 1: 1 Anna Pierce (USA) 2mins 03.05secs, 2 Yevgeniya Zinurova (Rus) 2:03.44, 3 Lenka Masna (Cze) 2:03.59, 4 Halima Hachlaf (Mar) 2:03.81, 5 Yuliya Krevsun (Ukr) 2:03.91, 6 Elian Periz (Spa) 2:04.71, 7 Victoria Griffiths (Gbr) 2:04.90, 8 Viktoriya Yalovtseva (Kaz) 2:05.68

Heat 2: 1 Jennifer Meadows (Gbr) 2mins 00.39secs, 2 Mariya Savinova (Rus) 2:00.95, 3 Alysia Johnson (USA) 2:01.55, 4 Egle Balciunaite (Lit) 2:02.37, 5 Nataliia Lupu (Ukr) 2:04.30, 6 Margarita Matsko (Kaz) 2:06.36

DQ: Angelika Cichocka (Pol)

DNS: Elisa Cusma Piccione (Ita)

Women's 400m

Heat 1: 1 Debbie Dunn (USA) 52.24secs, 2 Christine Amertil (Bah) 52.50, 3 Amantle Montsho (Bot) 52.72, 4 Kou Luogon (Lbr) 53.69, 5 Munira Saleh (Syr) 54.53

Heat 2: 1 Denisa Rosolova (Cze) 52.75secs, 1 Deedee Trotter (USA) 52.75, 3 Aliann Pompey (Guy) 52.76, 4 Bobby-Gaye Wilkins (Jam) 52.86

DNS: Klodiana Shala (Alb), Racheal Nachula (Zam)

Heat 3: 1 Natalya Nazarova (Rus) 53.50secs, 2 Vania Stambolova (Bul) 53.57, 3 Virginie Michanol (Fra) 53.70, 4 Antonina Yefremova (Ukr) 53.97, 5 Tjipekapora Herunga (Nam) 55.40, 6 Kay Khine Lwin (Mya) 1:00.78

Heat 4: 1 Tatyana Firova (Rus) 52.67secs, 2 Novlene Williams-Mills (Jam) 52.73, 3 Maris Magi (Est) 53.21, 4 Zuzana Hejnova (Cze) 53.56, 5 Tiandra Ponteen (SKN) 53.89

Men's 400m

Heat 1: 1 Dmitry Buryak (Rus) 47.03secs, 2 Michael Mathieu (Bah) 47.10, 3 Rabah Yousif (Sud) 47.21, 4 Santiago Ezquerro (Spa) 47.26, 5 Takeshi Fujiwara (Esa) 48.21

DNF: Renny Quow (Tri)

Heat 2: 1 David Gillick (Irl) 46.72secs, 2 William Collazo (Cub) 46.78, 3 Ricardo Chambers (Jam) 47.06, 4 Dale Garland (Gbr) 48.26, 5 Wala Gime (PNG) 49.92

Heat 3: 1 Bershawn Jackson (USA) 46.87secs, 2 Nery Brenes (Crc) 46.94, 3 Richard Buck (Gbr) 47.02, 4 Clemens Zeller (Aut) 47.39, 5 Lewis Banda (Zim) 48.85, 6 Gakologelwang Masheto (Bot) 50.96

Heat 4: 1 Jamaal Torrance (USA) 46.70secs, 2 Edino Steele (Jam) 46.80, 3 Brian Gregan (Irl) 47.26, 4 Nicolas Fillon (Fra) 48.28, 5 Jarrin Solomon (Tri) 48.37, 6 Matthew Pangelinan (Gum) 55.33

Heat 5: 1 Chris Brown (Bah) 46.95secs, 2 Denis Alekseyev (Rus) 47.18, 3 Marcin Marciniszyn (Pol) 47.23, 4 Arismendy Peguero (Dom) 47.28, 5 Andres Silva (Uru) 49.09

DNS: Mohammed Ghaleb Al-Omaisi (Yem)

Dwain Chambers destroys rest of field in 60m heats

Dwain Chambers, wearing what he described as his “poker face”, served notice of his intent at the World Indoor Athletics Championships by powering to the fastest qualifying time in the first round of the 60 metres.

Ominously for his rivals, the Londoner was even able to cruise the final 10 metres of his heat to conserve energy for Saturday’s rounds, yet his winning time of 6.59sec was still 0.02sec quicker than the second fastest qualifier, American Trell Kimmons.

Fellow Briton Harry Aikines-Aryeetey also made sure of his semi-final place by finishing runner-up in his heat in 6.72sec.

After winning the European indoor athletics 60m title a year ago, the world crown now looks there for the taking for Chambers, whose main rival, Ivory Williams, is at home in the United States after being banned for three months for testing positive for cannabis.

Chambers would not be drawn on Williams’ predicament, insisting he would not be distracted from his own performance, but said he was feeling confident about his prospects of winning his first senior global title.

“It’s all good,” said the 31-year-old, who shared the silver medal at the 2008 World Indoors in Valencia but is now ranked No 1 in Williams’ absence.

“It’s still early days yet and I’ve got to keep an eye on my opposition. But I’m just glad I got the first one out the way because I was a bit nervous.

“It’s just something I always go through. You always get a bit jittery. It’s the unknown. But now that I’ve got the heats out the way I know where I’m at and I know where I stand.”

Elsewhere, the afternoon session in Doha’s Aspire Dome proved disappointing for the British squad. Apart from Chambers and Aikines-Aryeetey, the only other runner to qualify from the heats was Helen Clitheroe in the 1500m, and even she did so only as a fastest loser.

Samson Oni qualified for the eight-man high jump final with a clearance of 2.26m though team-mate Tom Parsons narrowly missed out after clearing the same height but finishing outside the top-eight cut-off a count-back.

Kate Dennison, the British pole vault record-holder, was also eliminated on a count-back, finishing equal ninth with a clearance of 4.35m, while long-jumpers Greg Rutherford and Chris Tomlinson, both finalists in Berlin last summer, crashed out at the qualifying stage.

Richard Buck made it through the first round of the 400m as a fastest loser but went out in fifth place in his semi-final.

Blanka Vlasic skips into high jump final

Defending champion Blanka Vlasic qualifed for the high jump final at the world indoor athletics championships with minimum fuss.

The Croatian cleared all heights up to 1.92 meters to reach Saturday's final, as did Ruth Beitia of Spain and Marina Aitova of Kazakhstan.

Vlasic is the overwhelming favorite to extend her indoor reign at the worlds. Even though she has fallen short on big occasions in the past, Vlasic showed no jitters on the opening day of competition at the Aspire Dome.

"I did what was necessary," Vlasic said. "Now I can relax."

Vlasic comes into the competition with the season's three best performances. She cleared 2.06 meters in Arnstadt, Germany, to move into a tie as the No. 3 indoor jumper of all time, fueling talk of another run at the world record.

And in Doha she won't even have to face her main rival, Ariane Friedrich of Germany, who is out injured.

The men's heptathlon was billed as an American battle between Olympic champion Bryan Clay and world champion Trey Hardee, but after two events, Oleksiy Kasyanov of Ukraine was leading.

Clay won the opening 60 meters in 6.67 seconds, .13 seconds ahead of Hardee. Kasyanov was well back at 6.93. But Clay botched his long jump, largely because he failed to properly time his runup.

"I was running down the runway fast but I was too close and chopping up real bad," Clay said. "I'm actually surprised I got the three fair jumps I did because I was having to chop it up pretty bad."

The poor jump left him with a mark of 7.27 meters, while Kasyanov leapt 7.78 for the lead. Hardee, who jumped 7.28, was third after the opening session.

"Not bad, but I was expecting more," said Kasyanov, who is expected to extend his lead during the shot put later Friday.

The shot put and high jump complete Friday's session, with the 60 hurdles, pole vault and closing 1,000 meters set for Saturday.

"We'll take our break and move on," Clay said.

In other qualifying, Christian Cantwell qualified on his first attempt in the shot put with a toss of 20.72 meters. The American outdoor world champion is looking for his third world indoor title.

Olympic pole vault Steve Hooker only needed one jump of 5.60 meters to qualify for Saturday's final. But European indoor champion Renaud Lavillenie, who has jumped 6.01 outdoors, failed three times to clear 5.60 and will not compete in the final.

"It's disappointing for Renaud but there are very big things ahead for him," Hooker said. "I'm disappointed I won't be jumping against him in the final."