EDMONTON – John Godina threw down the gantlet by unleashing a 21.87m/71-foot, 9-inch throw in his first attempt in the finals of the men’s shot put at the World Outdoor championships Saturday afternoon.

His challenge withstood five more rounds of throws as Godina won his third World Championships title in Edmonton. Teammate Adam Nelson finished second with a best throw of 21.24m/69-8.5 and Arsi Harju of Finland was third at 20.93m/68-8. At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Harju won gold, Nelson silver and Godina bronze.

“I’m very, very happy,” said Godina, who won world titles in 1995 and 1997 and added a world indoor title in 2001. “This is better than any of the other titles I’ve ever won, I think. I was training and throwing so well all year, I couldn’t help but be super confident. I just was very comfortable being on top.”

Godina did not rest after his first throw, however. He also had the second-farthest throw of the competition with his second attempt, 21.80m/71-6.25.

In the men’s 100m rounds, the American trio of Maurice Greene, Tim Montgomery and Bernard Williams breezed through the first round and put the hammer down on the second round. In the quarterfinals, Montgomery won the first heat, easing up at the finish in 9.92 seconds. Greene then delivered a message to the field with a 9.88 win in heat 2. Williams provided the trifecta with a 9.95 win in his heat.

In the first round, Williams (10.20), Greene (10.33) and Montgomery (10.38) all won their heats. Suffering from a tender hamstring, Curtis Johnson did not start.

Reigning world and Olympic champion Stacy Dragila and teammate Mary Sauer advanced to Monday’s women’s pole vault final with clearances of 4.35m/14-3.25. Dragila took just two jumps, clearing on her first attempts at 4.25m/13-11.25 and 4.35m. Sauer cleared four heights, missing only once at 4.25m.

All three of Team USA’s men’s 400m runners advanced to Sunday’s semifinal round. U.S. champion and former world champion Antonio Pettigrew won the fourth heat in 45.74 seconds and Leonard Byrd was second in the sixth heat (45.35) as both men advanced automatically. Jerome Young was fourth in the third heat in 45.57 to qualify on time.

Suzy Favor Hamilton moved on to Sunday’s semifinal round of the women’s 1,500, placing fourth in her heat in 4:08.89, the fourth-fastest time of the day. Training partner Sarah Schwald also placed fourth in her heat, running 4:13.69. U.S. champion and two-time World Championships silver medalist Regina Jacobs dropped out of her race with less than 200 meters to go after straining her right foot.

U.S. champion David Krummenacker was second in the fourth heat of the men’s 800 first round to automatically advance to Sunday’s second round, running 1:48.15. Khadevis Robinson was fifth in his heat in 1:49.42 and Derrick Peterson was fifth in his section in 1:47.56. Neither man advanced.

In day 1 of the heptathlon, Shelia Burrell went 13.05 in the hurdles (second fastest to Eunice Barber of France), 1.67m/5-5.75 in the high jump, 12.87m/42-2.75 in the shot put and a personal best 22.92 in the 200 – by far the fastest time of the day - to sit in fourth place with 3741 points. DeDee Nathan posted marks of 13.68 in the 100m hurdles,1.70 (5-7) in the high jump,14.68m/48-2 in the shot put and 25.16 in the 200 to finish the day in eighth place with 3590 points. Walter Davis will compete in Monday’s men’s triple jump final, having advanced Saturday with a jump of 17.22m/56-6, the second-best mark of the day behind world record holder Jonathan Edwards (17.46m/57-3.5). LaMark Carter (16.60m/54-5.5) and Robert Howard (15.57m/51-1) did not advance.

In the men’s hammer, Kevin McMahon was 17th in qualifying with a throw of 75.62m (248-1) and did not advance to the final. John Davis threw 19.11m/62-8.5 to place 20th in shot put qualifying and did not advance to the final.

In Saturday’s only other final, Tim Seaman was disqualified from the men’s 20k race walk.

For full quotes from Team USA, visit www.usatf.org. For complete meet results, visit www.iaaf.org.