Old rivals Ennis-London (L) and Foster-Hylton dip at the line at the Jamaica National Trials in June 2009.

Jamaica’s Brigitte Foster-Hylton stormed through to beat a high-quality field in the women's 100m hurdles at the World Championships today, claiming her first Worlds gold medal in the event. Her winning time of 12.51 secs (0.2 m/s wind) is her season best. Last year, t he 34-yr-old Foster-Hylton, who won bronze at the 2005 Worlds and silver in 2003, talked about retiring out of frustration when she did not get a medal at the Beijing Olympics. This time, she left the blocks in a hurry and bolted to the line first, closing her eyes at one point toward the end.

 

Olympic silver medalist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep of Canada finished second in 12.54 and Delloreen Ennis-London of Jamaica took the bronze in a season best 12.55 secs.

 

Dawn Harper, the Olympic champion, had a slow start and finished seventh while the highly touted Sally McLellan of Australia managed only fifth place in 12.70.

 

Defending world champion Michelle Perry was eliminated Tuesday in her opening qualifying heat.