Kim Collins won the world 100 meters title for the tiny nation of St Kitts and Nevis Monday as American sprinters finished out of the medals for the first time since 1995.

Collins [L] wins gold and Darrel Brown [L2] silver.

Another Caribbean athlete, Darrel Brown of Trinidad and Tobago, was second and Briton Darren Campbell third.

"I am thinking about a shop in St Kitts and Nevis and people there must be buying beer now," said Collins. "It's rather small on the map but it's rather bigger now.

Collins, drawn in lane one, clocked 10.07 seconds while 18-year-old Brown, the world junior champion and record holder, and Campbell were both timed in 10.08.

"It was a very open race. We have been beating each other this season so nothing was decided before hand," added Collins.

"I didn't anticipate a gold medal although I wanted it. I was thought to be the dark horse of the race so I decided to have a black outfit to fit into that idea.

"It was good for me to be in lane one. It took the pressure off me. Everybody was focusing on the runners in the middle.

Briton Dwain Chambers, the European champion, was a major disappointment as he finished outside the medals. Chambers clocked 10.08 but was given fourth place.

The first six athletes were all within six hundredths of a second of each other.

Defending champion Maurice Greene, aiming for an unprecedented fourth world title, was eliminated in the semi-finals.

INDEPENDENCE

The 29-year-old American made a flying start but slowed noticeably to finish eighth after injuring his left thigh.

World record holder Tim Montgomery, who appeared to have regained form in the opening heats, could finish only fifth in the final, with U.S. champion Bernard Williams in sixth place.

Collins's winning time was equal to the slowest in any men's 100 final in the 20-year history of the world championships.

Nine times Olympic champion Carl Lewis also clocked 10.07 when winning the first of this three world golds in Helsinki in 1983.

By coincidence 1983 was the year, St Kitts and Nevis, two Caribbean islands with a combined population of 40,000, gained independence from Britain.

"I believe everybody was watching this race on my home island, If they don't have a TV, they'll be watching it at streets by the shop windows," added Collins.

The 27-year-old became a national hero when he won a bronze medal in the 200 meters at the 2001 world championships in Edmonton, Canada.

He became Commonwealth champion in controversial circumstances last year when he was allowed to keep his gold medal despite a positive drug test.

Collins was cleared after demonstrating that he took the banned drug salbutamol to treat asthma and underwent a test by an independent doctor to prove his condition.

Teen-ager Brown showed he was a sprinter to watch closely in the future after reproducing the form that helped him set a world junior record of 10.01 in the quarter-finals.

"It was a very close race. I'm very proud. If everything goes to plan I will look to be in the (Olympic) final next year," he said.

Campbell, Sydney Olympic 200 meters silver medallist, said it was his meticulous training in "dipping" at the end of race that had won him another medal.

"I believe that I am one of the best dippers in sprinting," said the Briton, who also had the fastest reaction time in the final.

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