For the rest even Johnson and Bubka seemed to be holding back for a big pay day at a time when the sport

For the rest even Johnson and Bubka seemed to be holding back for a big pay day at a time when the sport is in financial and physical decline.This summer we have seen the fading of great stars, among them Carl Lewis and Heike Drechsler, who were both around when the championships started in 1983. The Olympics is the thing, but even they lose some of their magic when the finals are no different to the races we all run in Europe every summer."For Britain the withdrawals from the team have made this year's championships quickly forgettable save only for the too-good-to-be-true Edwards with his unfathomable leaps to fame. But he is not the only one saying that the growing number of invitation meetings is leaving nothing for the precious occasions.A lot of the not-quite-champions here such as Darnell Hall, the American who finished sixth in the 400m behind Johnson, will openly admit that they arrived lacking real enthusiasm for what should be a championship second only to the Olympics. They get paid nothing (officially) for appearing, so winning a bronze medal or merely qualifying for a final is worth less than a third place in Oslo or Monte Carlo.Hall said: "The world championships have status but only for winners. There is too little outstanding talent spread across too many days and, worse, the event has been seriously damaged by the frequency with which the top athletes meet each other on the circuit.The International Amateur Athletic Federation president, Primo Nebiolo, has been the prime mover behind the championships' being held more frequently and, for television reasons, extending it across nine days, so there is no reason to sympathise with him.

Such is the repetitiveness of the world's top athletes competing against each other week after week that these world finals and even the Olympics no longer have that scarcity value. That simple conclusion is confirmation of fears expressed five years ago when the decision was made to hold the championships every two years rather than four Devaluation set in. More likely they will only recall that it was the year in which Linford Christie collapsed on the track and never appeared at another major championship. IN 10 years' time anyone looking back at the 1995 World Athletics Championships may conceivably remember them for that nice Jonathan Edwards twice breaking the world triple jump record, Innessa Kravets of the Ukraine breaking the women's version once, Michael Johnson peerless in the 200 and 400 metres, Sergei Bubka still beyond reach on the pole vault and Kim Batten snatching Sally Gunnell's 400m hurdles world record. Africa's hold on distance running is expected to be challenged, though, in the 5,000m final. Dieter Baumann, the German Olympic champion is in sparkling form..

So I'm back aiming for gold in the 800." The fact that she was only sixth highest qualifier illustrates the job she faces.If Linford Christie has again drawn most of the publicity here, Noureddine Morceli should drag attention back to another of this era's outstanding champions when, barring tying his shoelaces together, no one else will stop him again being 1500m world champion Britain's Gary Lough has done well even to get to the final. Mutola, of Mozambique, was disqualified on Friday night for running out of her lane.Holmes has been moping a lot since Wednesday's defeat by Hassiba Boulmerka, of Algeria, whose experience both as Olympic and world champion was crucial. Holmes, like Yvonne Murray and Liz McColgan in the 10,000m, had been carrying expectations that were too high. However, Sergeant Holmes is a resilient character and by yesterday morning was beginning to perk up "It took a while to get it out of my system.

After being persuaded that a silver was no failure after only three seasons of high-level running, it would have been wrong to aim just for any medal If you do that you get nothing. A first throw of 83.20 brought him instant qualification, as did Hill's 83.54. Realistically, a silver medal is the best Britain can hope for from Backley unless, as he says, he can suddenly produce "a big one".A silver is also a realistic target for Holmes, who is saved the task of facing Maria Mutola, the finest woman runner of the present era. "I've been breathing down his neck all season," Backley said.