El Guerrouj makes it four straight

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) -- And now, on to the 5,000 meters.

Many title defenders and medal hopefuls have been spectacular failures at the World Championships.

Not Hicham El Guerrouj.

The self-proclaimed king of the 1,500 meters ran to his fourth straight title in the event Wednesday and made it look easy.

"I was running against 60,000 people," the Moroccan said of the fans at the Stade de France. "It was a magnificent race."

On Thursday, El Guerrouj will run the 5,000 heats and continue his quest for an unprecedented 1,500-5,000 double at the championships.

"It will be a big day," he said.

El Guerrouj, the world record-holder, was never in trouble during the 1,500 final and finished in a leisurely 3 minutes, 31.77 seconds.

European champion Mehdi Baala of France, cheered on by a boisterous crowd, gave the host nation a silver medal in 3:32.31 and Ivan Heshko of Ukraine ran 3:33.17 for the bronze.

"I am still the king of 1,500, I've protected my kingdom," El Guerrouj said.

The 5,000 could be a more difficult affair, especially if Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, the 10,000 champion, decides to go for his own double.

In yet another double bid, 100 meter champion Kelli White was going for gold in the 200 on Thursday night. Three other finals were scheduled Thursday: men's pole vault, women's hammer and women's 400 hurdles.

Another favorite to live up to the hype was Ana Guevara of Mexico, who captured the gold in the women's 400 with just as much poise.

The Mexican stretched her winning streak to 20 races. She hasn't been beaten since she won the bronze medal two years ago in Edmonton.

"It is a privilege to be the No. 1 in the world," Guevara said. "It is a big day for Mexico. My mother is here in the stadium and I'd like to dedicate this title to her."

Guevara set a personal best and the season's fastest time of 48.89 seconds.

The Mexican entered the home straight well in the lead and extended it to beat Lorraine Fenton of Jamaica, who clocked 49.43. Amy Mbacke Thiam of Senegal, the last woman to beat Guevara when she won gold in Edmonton two years ago, settled for bronze in 49.95.

Tom Pappas of the United States won the decathlon to beat world-record holder Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic.

Sebrle had been coming from behind from the opening event and steadily closed the gap as he moved from fourth place after the first day of the two-day competition.

But Pappas ran a personal best of 4:44.31 in the 1,500 -- the final event -- and although he was slower than Sebrle, the American was fast enough to win with 8,750 points. Sebrle had 8,634 and Dmitry Karpov of Kazakhstan, leader after the first day, took bronze at 8,374.

Perdita Felicien gave Canada its first gold of the championships by winning the women's 100 hurdles. On top of that, it was the first medal for a Canadian woman in championship history.

Felicien clocked 12.53 seconds to nip season leader and Pan American Games champion Brigitte Foster of Jamaica, who ran 12.57. Miesha McKelvy of the United States earned the bronze in 12.67.

"It is just shocking," the 22-year old Canadian said. "My goal was just to run the final and hopefully break the national record." She did both.

Two more big names joined the growing list of upsets and injuries in five days of competition that have included such names as 100-meter world record holder Tim Montgomery and three-time champion Maurice Greene.

Former Olympic and three-time world champion Astrid Kumbernuss of Germany failed to qualify for the women's shot put final.

Four-time defending long jump champion and Olympic gold medalist Ivan Pedroso pulled out after the first qualifying jump with a foot injury.

Svetlana Krivelyova of Russia won the gold medal in the shot put with a throw of 20.63 meters.

Robert Korzeniowski of Poland beat his world best time by more than half a minute to capture his third 50-kilometer title and confirm himself as the greatest race walker in history.

Korzeniowski, a multiple Olympic, world and European champion, finished in 3:36:03, beating his old 50K mark of 3:36:39.

Russia's German Skurygin set a national record of 3:36:42 to take silver and Andreas Erm set a German record of 3:37:46 for bronze.