Former Virginia Tech hurdler Queen Harrison 5th at world championships

MOSCOW - Brianna Rollins of the United States won the women's 100-meter hurdles Saturday at the world championships with a late surge to the finish, while former Virginia Tech star Queen Harrison finished fifth.

Rollins overcame an extremely slow start and won in 12.44 seconds, just ahead of Olympic gold medalist Sally Pearson of Australia. Pearson, who was also the defending champion, took silver in 12.50, while Tiffany Porter of Britain earned bronze in 12.55.

Rollins, a three-time NCAA champ at Clemson, turned pro two months ago. She won two NCAA titles earlier this year and won the 100 hurdles at the USA championships last month.

"It's been such a great year," said Rollins, who turns 22 on Sunday. "I'm thankful."

Dawn Harper, the 2008 Olympic champion from the United States who won bronze at worlds two years ago, was fourth.

Harrison, who was a three-time NCAA champ at Tech, was fifth among the eight finalist with a time of 12.73 seconds.

"I actually had a pretty good start. But being out in lane two, it is hard to feel what it going on," said Harrison, who was a 2008 Olympian in the 400 hurdles. "You actually can't, so of course I am supposed to run my own race, but it helps in the second half of the race if you can feel people next to yourself. I went out there and executed the best way I could, and I am proud of myself.

"I've never made it to an international championship in the 100 hurdles, let alone the final, so this is just the beginning. This is my first year of taking the 100-meter hurdles 100 percent seriously, so there is more to come from me. Fifth, I can take that."

In the semifinals earlier in the day, Harrison advanced to the final with a time of 12.71 seconds. She had the fifth-best time out of the 24 women in the semis.

With Allyson Felix sidelined, the Americans had to settle for second in the women's 4x400 relay.

Felix has helped the U.S. to three straight world titles in the relay but couldn't run after tearing her right hamstring in the 200 final the night before.

The squad sure could've used her, too, as the Russians beat the Americans after a curious exchange between the third and fourth runners. Shoulder to shoulder with Kseniya Ryzhova, Ashley Spencer was on the inside and anchor Francena McCorory was a lane over. Unable to get to her, Spencer slowed down and dropped behind the Russian to pass the baton.

It cost the Americans a few tenths of a second. The team lost by 0.22.

"I had to stop and go and it was just a mess," Spencer explained.

Other winners on Saturday included:

• Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda capturing the men's marathon title.
• Ethiopian veteran Meseret Defar adding the 5,000 world title to her Olympic gold medal.
• Vitezslav Vesely of the Czech Republic taking the javelin crown.
• Svetlana Shkolina of Russia edging American Brigetta Barrett in the high jump.

Emma Green Tregaro of Sweden remained a big part of the championships, not so much for her finish in the high jump but the finish on her fingernails.

Green Tregaro wore rainbow-colored nail polish during qualifying to show support for Russian gays and lesbians in the face of an anti-gay law. She went with red Saturday as track officials said the earlier gesture may violate the meet's code of conduct.

"It was harder to not paint them in the rainbow than it was to choose to paint them," said Green Tregaro, who ended up fifth. "I'm surprised by the big reactions, but I'm happy about the big reaction because it's mostly been very positive."

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