Gay sizzles, Kluft sparkles

Tyson Gay sizzled and Swedish superwoman Carolina Kluft sparkled on Sunday night, both scattering sporting gold on the athletics world championships in Osaka.

American sprinter Gay streaked to his first world title by outstripping world record holder Asafa Powell, while Kluft achieved what no heptathlete had managed and won her third successive world title with the highest score of her career.

Gay's winning time of 9.85 seconds in the championships' blue riband event was well outside the 9.77 world record mark of Jamaican Powell, who was also beaten into bronze position by Derrick Atkins of Bahamas.

"This has to be the happiest moment in my life," Gay said breathlessly. "My mother told me that this was pre-ordained ... that the reason I didn't get a medal in 2005 was that I needed to mature.

"My mother told me to make myself a believer. That was something I wasn't doing. I want to race everyone in the world."

Powell immediately pinpointed the reason for his failure.

"I just tightened up and panicked," he said. "I was running well in the rounds, I just made a big mistake in the final. I tightened up and it cost me the race."

On a balmy night in Osaka, Kluft was simply irresistible.

Her blonde locks pinned back from her face and pulled into a pony-tail, she swept to gold by racking up 7,032 points, 200 more than silver medallist Lyudmyla Blonska of Ukraine.

LIGHT-HEARTED HOMAGE

In six of her seven disciplines she recorded her best scores of the year -- and two of those season-bests were also career bests.

Unbeaten in heptathlon since 2002, the 24-year-old Swede fell to the Nagai track after crossing the line in the 800m to clinch the title and was immediately encircled by her fellow competitors who bowed before her in light-hearted homage.

Then she was off, lapping the stadium, soaking up the cheers and leaping hurdles.

"There's no end of happiness," Kluft beamed. "I'm just thrilled with victory. I can't explain I'm so happy.

"To achieve a PB was my biggest motivation and to get the European record is a great bonus. Now I'm just going to be happy and relax ... at least for a week," she smiled.

Blonska's score of 6,832 was the best non-winning performance in world championships history.

Earlier on day two of the 11th world championships, Ecuadorean Jefferson Perez utilized what he called his "suicide strategy" to become the first man to win three successive world 20km walk titles.

The 33-year-old made light of stifling 33 degree Celsius temperatures and ignored violent leg cramps to beat Spain's Francisco Fernandez who was reinstated to silver after his disqualification for "lifting" was overruled on appeal.

Tunisian Hatem Ghoula was relegated to the bronze.

"Today my strategy was to challenge my spirit. I knew I could collapse during the race, you could say it was kind of a suicide strategy," Perez said after winning in one hour 22 minutes and 20 seconds.

New Zealander Valerie Vili recorded a career-best throw of 20.54m to win the women's shot put gold, saving her best till last to overhaul 2005 world champion Nadezya Ostapchuk, of Belarus, who had led the competition from the first round with 20.04m.

"To be able to come from a small country in Oceania and do something like this is awesome," she said. "It won't change me. I'll just be the same happy chappie, little Val, it's all good."