Australian hurdler Jana Pittman provided the upset of the World Championships after Kelli White had clinched the first U.S. world 100-200 metres double.

White became only the third woman in the 20-year history of the championships to win the sprint double, a feat beyond even triple Olympic champion Marion Jones, who is not competing in Paris.

Pittman overhauled world record holder Yuliya Pechonkina, after the Russian had appeared to take an insurmountable lead, to win the women's 400 hurdles title.

The victory on Thursday was similar to her compatriot Debbie Flintoff-King's in the same event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and more than adequate compensation to the Australian team for Dmitri Markov's failure to retain the men's pole vault title.

As she had in the earlier rounds, Pechonkina got away quickly, settled into her stride pattern and appeared to have the victory sewn up as the field went into the straight.

But the Russian, who broke Kim Batten's eight-year-old world record this month, tied up badly on the home stretch and Pittman seized her opportunity by moving up to her shoulder on the final barrier before surging away to win.

"I knew the eighth hurdle was her weakness so I really sped up over the seventh hurdle and I nailed the eighth better than I have ever nailed a hurdle in my life," she said.

"She was miles ahead at 200 metres but that's just the way she runs. I knew I had a lot of strength in the last 100.

FREEMAN DEDICATION

Pittman dedicated her victory to Olympic 400 metres champion Cathy Freeman, who announced her retirement this year.

"She did so much for our sport and I love the fact I am filling her shoes. Everybody said 'will you be the next Cathy Freeman?' Hopefully, I am moving in that direction."

Pittman said she thought Pechonkina had shown her lack of competitive races.

"I don't think she expected me to come up next to her and when I did she didn't fight at all," she said.

White was clearly superior to the rest of the field in the 200, clocking 22.05 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year, in her eighth race of the championships.

Russian Anastasiya Kapachinskaya came through fast in the final strides to take second place ahead of 100 metres silver medallist American Torri Edwards.

White, showing the strain of a demanding championships, said she felt both sick and tired.

"I'm not feeling very great right now. Before the race we were all very nervous, but you've got to learn to get over that," she said.

In another upset, Italian Giuseppe Gibilisco increased his personal best by eight centimetres to clear 5.90 metres and win the men's pole vault gold medal.

Gibilisco, who works with Sergei Bubka's former coach Vitaliy Petrov, failed twice at 5.75. He gambled by reserving his third attempt for an ultimately successful clearance at 5.80.

"That was a bit scary," he said. "But after I cleared 5.80 I knew I had a chance to win it."

Photograph: Getty Images