PARIS – Kelli White and Torri Edwards delivered sizzling, personal-best performances Sunday night in the women’s 100 meters at the 2003 World Outdoor Track & Field Championships, finishing in a 1-2 sweep at the Stade de France.

White posted a world-leading time of 10.85 – a personal best by .08 seconds – to become the fourth American woman to win the 100m gold at the World Championships. [Other U.S. winners were Gail Devers (’93), Gwen Torrence (’95) and Marion Jones (’97, ’99).] She was followed to the finish line by Edwards, whose time of 10.93 was a personal best by a whopping .12 seconds. Gail Devers finished eighth in a season-best time of 11.11.

Together, White and Edwards repeated the gold-silver U.S. finish by Marion Jones and Inger Miller at the 1999 World Championships in Seville, and also mirrored their 1-2 placing at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships in Stanford in June.

Considered a favorite in the event entering the meet, White (Union City, Calif.) responded brilliantly to early-race challenges from co-favorite Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas, defending champion Zhanna Block of Ukraine, and Edwards, all of whom beat White soundly out of the blocks. Edwards’ reaction time of .133 seconds gave her an edge over Sturrup’s .136, with Block at .160 and white at .184.

White’s drive phase powered her past the competition by mid-race, and she went on to hit the finish line well clear of the rest of the field. Edwards (Los Angles, Calif.) also impressed as she defeated the defending world champion and continued the top season of her career. Her 100m silver improves on her 60m bronze medal from the 2003 World Indoor Championships.

The rest of the world could be in for double trouble when the 200 meters begins on Tuesday. White and Edwards will take their talents to the half-lapper, an event in which White won bronze at the 2001 Worlds and which she calls her favorite. They will be joined in the 200 by 17-year-old Allyson Felix, whose time of 22.11 leads the world this year.

In the 100m semifinals Sunday, White again came back from a slow start to win her semi in 10.96 over Sturrup. In the second semi, Edwards was third (11.11) and Devers was fourth in a then-season best 11.12.

Endurance events were featured in Team USA’s other finals Sunday. Alan Culpepper (Louisville, Colo.) was 14th in the men’s 10,000 meters in 28:14.92. He was followed by Meb Keflezighi (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) in 16th (28:35.08) and Dan Brown (Portland, Ore.) in 19th (29:01.60). Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia outkicked countryman Haile Gebrselassie for the win, finishing in 26:49.57 to beat Gebrselassie by 1.20 seconds.

Joanne Dow (Bedford, N.H.) placed 24th in the women’s 20 km walk Monday morning with a time of 1 hour, 36 minutes and 32 seconds. Yelena Nikolayeva of Russia won the race by 42 seconds with her time of 1:26:52.

Team USA’s men’s 400 meter runners continued their dominant form in the semifinals. Tyree Washington won the second semi with the fastest qualifying time of the day, 44.60. Jerome Young (Fort Worth, Texas) won the first race in a season-best time of 44.70, followed by Calvin Harrison (Salinas, Calif.) in second in 44.71.

World record holder Tim Montgomery (Cary, N.C.) showed that he has overcome the sub-par form he showed in Europe over the summer, winning both of his heats of the men’s 100 meters. In the first round, Montgomery had the fastest time with his winning 10.07 in heat 7; in the second round, he won his heat in 10.04.

Also advancing in the 100 for Team USA were Bernard Williams (Miramar, Fla.) and Maurice Greene (Irvine, Calif.). In the first round, Williams won heat 2 in 10.19 and Greene was second in heat 8 in 10.18; in the second round, Williams was second, behind Montgomery, in heat 1 in 10.12 while Greene was third in heat 4 in 10.04. Jon Drummond won his first-round race in 10.22 but was called for a false start and disqualified from the second round after a protest.

All three American entrants advanced in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, as four-time U.S. champion Sandra Glover ran 54.48 in the third heat to be fastest among Americans. Defending U.S. champion Raasin McIntosh was second in heat 2 in 55.54, while Joanna Hayes was third in heat one with 56.10.

U.S. champion Sanya Richards (Austin, Texas) will be joined by former NCAA champion Demetria Washington (Columbia, S.C.) in Sunday’s semifinals of the women’s 400 meters. Richards ran 51.00 to place second in heat 5 of Sunday’s first-round races, and Washington was third in heat 3 in 51.53. DeeDee Trotter (Knoxville, Tenn.) was sixth in heat 2 in 52.17 and did not advance.

Carl Brown (Los Angeles, Calif.) had the ninth-best throw among all contestants in men’s discus qualifying (63.01m/206-8) to advance to Tuesday’s final. Casey Malone (59.58m/195-6 – Boulder, Colo.) and Nick Petrucci (61.50/201-9 – Chula Vista, Calif.) did not advance.

Failing to advance from their qualifying rounds Sunday were Jen Toomey (Salem, Mass.), who was seventh in her 800m semifinal with 2:02.35, and Yuliana Perez (Tucson, Ariz.), who was 20th in qualifying in the women’s triple jump (13.89m/45-7).

Heptathlete Kim Schiemenz, 13th after the first day of competition, did not compete in day 2 due to injured ligaments and bruises in her right foot, suffered during the high jump on Saturday. The event was won by 19-year-old sensation Karolina Kluft of Sweden, who became just the third woman in history to surpass the 7,000-ponit barrier with her score of 7,001.

For complete results from the World Outdoor Championships and full Team USA quotes visit www.usatf.org