Athletics: Christie confirms his No 1 status: Britain's Olympic 100m champion proves his point by vanquishing Americans in Weltklasse

LETZIGRUND'S answer to the Kop, packed into the terrace beyond the finish line, acclaimed an enormous victory here last night as they roared out, football-style, the name of Linford Christie.

In torrential rain, the Olympic and world 100 metres champion won the race of the season, defeating the best that the world - and more particularly, the United States - had to offer.

His reaction could hardly have been in greater contrast to that which followed last week's unchallenged retention of his European title. This time Christie bounded wildly towards the crowd, firing imaginary hand-guns in turn and pointing unambiguously towards his own chest.

As he did so, the fancied Americans - Leroy Burrell, who lowered the world record to 9.85sec this year, and Dennis Mitchell, the favourite on paper with five runs under 10 seconds this season, stalked back towards their kit at the start line, looking suddenly ridiculous in their respective outfits of tangerine and pale blue, and dayglo green.

'I proved tonight that I am the undisputed No 1,' said Christie, who won in 10.05. 'I may be old but I am not cold.' Jon Drummond took second place in 10.15 and Olapade Adeniken of Nigeria was third in 10.22.

Mitchell, who made the final only by virtue of being one of the two fastest losers in the three preliminary heats, was fourth in 10.23; Burrell seventh in 10.39. It was a desperate evening for the world record holder, who reached the final as second fastest loser on the toss of a coin after finishing in 10.33, the identical time to Andre Cason, the world silver medallist.

Christie said he had been confident of victory after winning his heat in 10.13. His confidence was given a shrewd lift by his coach, Ron Roddan, who told him that he had never had a better first 20 metres in any race.

It was a fine answer to the contrived insult delivered at the Goodwill Games by Burrell, Mitchell and Carl Lewis - 'Linford who?' - after Christie had withdrawn because of a hamstring injury. And Christie spared a final thought for Lewis, who pulled out of Zurich on Tuesday with a reported stomach upset. 'I hope he was watching on television,' said the Briton.

Hopes of fast times on a newly laid, dollars 500,000 ( pounds 330,000) track were mocked by the rain, however. The only world record the meeting saw for its pounds 2.5m budget came in the 1500m wheelchair race before the downpour.

Christie's training partner, Colin Jackson, earned the Kop's accolade after winning the 110m hurdles in 13.19sec, ahead of Mark Crear, of the United States, and the Olympic champion Mark McKoy. Jackson had planned to better his own world record of 12.91, but that plan joined so many others on the night.

On another night, too, Noureddine Morceli may add the 5,000m world record to the ones he holds at the mile, 1500m and 3,000m - but it may not be for a while. In a race teeming with quality, he took the bell ahead of Khalid Skah of Morocco and Fita Bayissa of Ethiopia, and stretched away down the back straight.

Although he had been seeking a time of under 13 minutes, in the circumstances his winning mark of 13min 3.85sec was remarkable. It even made Morceli's legs wobble in the final 10 metres. 'I need more experience over 5,000m,' he said. 'Now I'm feeling that these are two worlds - to run a mile and to run this long distance.'

Steve Smith gained some revenge over Steinar Hoen of Norway, the man who beat him to the high jump gold at the European Championships. Smith, emphasising his competitive nature in the conditions, won with 2.28m.

Sonia O'Sullivan, who had intended to make a further attempt on Paula Ivan's world mile record of 4:15.61, had to settle for second place in a time of 4:23.14, behind the Olympic 1500m champion Hassiba Boulmerka of Algeria, whose time was 4:22.09.

On a nightmarish occasion for javelin throwers, Steve Backley took second place behind the world champion, Jan Zelezny, by just four centimetres - 81.20m to 81.16.

Roger Black, drawn out in lane eight, finished fifth in a 400m won by Derek Mills of the United States in 44.94. Black, who ran 45.17, could derive some satisfaction from finishing ahead of Kenya's Olympic bronze medallist, Samson Kitur, and the man who beat him to the 1991 world title, Antonio Pettigrew.

(Photograph omitted)