SHERBROOKE, Canada - Sherbrooke has a long history as a copper mining center, but for Texas high schooler Jason Richardson the hills have been filled with nothing but gold at the 3rd IAAF World Youth Championships.

Battling gusty winds and coolish temperatures, the Cedar Hill High School student stamped himself in the record books as the first person to win both hurdles events at the World Youth meet, galloping to gold in the 400 meters hurdles today with a world-leading and personal best time of 49.91 seconds. Last night Richardson won the 110 hurdles in 13.29, also a personal best.

“It was very much a relief to win,” said Richardson. “The goal of getting the record (49.86) was in my mind, but I knew that because I was attempting both events it would have been a rare case if I got both records. I know if I had run each race individually I could have broken the records. But, I would rather have two gold medals than one record.”

Behind Richardson, Jamaal Charles made a strong move over the final three hurdles to claim bronze with a personal best 51.48.

Natasha Hastings joined Richardson as a gold medalist, holding on to win the women’s 400 in 53.41. The Rosedale, N.Y. sprinter took an early lead and staved off a late challenge by Russia's Antonina Krivoshapka, while teammate Brandi Cross had a season-best 54.28 to place fifth.

"I have been fighting a nagging cold for the past couple weeks," Hastings said. "It has made it hard to really be at my best, and the cold and rain yesterday didn't help a lot. I just had to concentrate on running as well as I could. I am very happy with the win if not the time."

In the men's 400, Georgia's Cedric Goodman drew lane eight and took off like a madman through 200 meters, passing the halfway point in 21.9 seconds. He battled down the final stretch, but was unable to catch Sudan's Nagmeldin Ali Abubakr, who set a Championships record of 46.10. Goodman grabbed the silver at 46.42, his second best time of the year.

California's Domenique Manning had an early lead in the women's 100 meter hurdles and was in gold contention until hurdle eight, where she faded slightly and held on for the bronze at 13.60. Teammate Pavi'Elle James of Miami was sixth at 13.78.

Running with the pack at a torrid early pace, Chantelle Dron stayed in the lead group through 1200 meters, passing 400 in 65.3, 800 in 2:18.1 and 1200 in 3:29.6 before fading back to tenth place at 4:26.24.

Jamaica's World Junior silver medalist Aneisha McLaughlin made easy work of Americans Courtney Champion and Cleo Tyson in the women's 200 final, cruising to a 23.26 for the gold. Champion took silver at 23.56, with Tyson earning bronze in 23.67.

Just in time for the men's 3000 meters the rain started falling again, and Portland, Oregon's Galen Rupp made the best of hometown-like conditions to record the best ever Team USA finish in a distance race at these Championships. Rupp ran gamely in a race that included a powerful Kenyan and Ethiopian contingent, passing 1500 meters in 4:02 and moving steadily up through the field to finish seventh in 8:10.42, a personal best and the seventh best ever in U.S. high school history. His time is also a high school class record and an age-16 national record.

Other Team USA finalists in action were Michael Haddan, who finished eighth in the men's 800 at 1:53.31, and Scott Duckworth, who was equal ninth in the pole vault at 15-7. Michaela Wallerstedt was eleventh in the women's shot put with a toss of 45-1.5.

The first day of the women's heptathlon ended with Americans Gayle Hunter and Alondra Cooper both in the top 15. Hunter is sixth after four events with 3126 points, and Cooper is 15th at 2912. They will compete in the final three events of the multi on Sunday - long jump, javelin and 800 meters.

One of the pre-race favorites in the men's 100, Michael Grant fell victim to the new IAAF false start rule in the semifinals as he was disqualified along with Nigeria's Oluwole Ogunde in heat two. The other U.S. semifinalist, Jay Cooper, ran 10.80 in heat one and did not advance.

WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS - SATURDAY MORNING SESSION NOTES

Warmer, brighter weather hailed the return of Team USA to the track Saturday morning at the 3rd IAAF World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke, Canada, with most of the squad's competitors advancing to the next round.

Best of the bunch was the women's 1000-meter medley relay, which dominated the semifinals with a 2:06.54 run, almost three seconds faster than the nearest challenger. Led by 100 meters gold medalist Jessica Onyepunuka, who ran the opening 100 leg, the quartet won heat two. Joining Onyepunuka in the winning effort were Alexandria Anderson (200 leg in 23.4), Brandi Cross (300 in 38.1) and Lauren Austin (400 anchor leg in 53.7).

The men's medley relay, running with a team of Jay Cooper, Lionel Larry, Jarrith Jones and Jamaal Charles, finished second in their heat behind Poland and easily advanced to the final with a 1:54.75 clocking. Poland beat the U.S. two years ago in Hungary, setting up tomorrow's revenge match in the final. Pre-meet favorite Jamaica was disqualified in heat two for passing out of the zone.

Courtney Champion led all qualifiers for the women's 200 final, equaling her personal best with a 23.53 to win semifinal three, while Cleo Tyson also advanced to the final, winning heat one in 23.96. Both U.S. men advanced to the semifinals in the 200, winning their preliminary heats easily. Michael Grant, the 2001 WYC silver medalist, lowered his lifetime best to 20.88 to win his heat with the fastest time of the prelims, and Lionel Larry added a 21.73 winner in heat three.

Team USA will have two representatives in the women's 400 hurdles final after Nicole Leach finished second in semifinal two at 59.93, and MacKenzie Hill placed fourth in semi one at 60.58. Russia's Ekaterina Kostetskaya, who attends high school in Arkansas, was the fastest qualifier with a 58.09 effort.

Others advancing to finals were Erica McLain in the women's long jump and Michaela Wallerstedt in the women's shot put. Half-miler Trisa Nickoley ran a solid race in the women's 800 semifinals, but just missed advancing to the final.