sprinter quietly made his own mark at the World Track and Field Championships.

Troy Douglas, one of three Bermudians at the competition, equalled his own personal best in the 200-metre heats and qualified for the semi-finals today.

Douglas, 34, was second in both qualifying races, including the second when he was just .01 seconds behind training partner Patrick Stevens of Belgium. But his time of 20.78 seconds was actually slower than the 20.46 he turned in a few hours earlier.

That effort put him just behind Ivan Garcia of Cuba in the ninth and final first-round heat, a time that matched his previous best, set in last year's Olympics.

He'll likely have to beat it in order to advance out of the semis, where Frankie Fredericks and Ato Boldon will wage another duel. The pair were clocked in 20.13 and 20.28, respectively, in the second round.

Also moving on yesterday was Bermuda triple jumper Brian Wellman -- but just barely.

Wellman, second in the world championships two years ago, failed to meet the 17-metre qualifying standard but had the 12th best jump to advance to the final tomorrow night. Only the top 12 qualified, and Wellman's jump of 16.84 (55-feet, three inches) nosed out Cuban Yoel Garcia.

Another Cuban, Yoelvis Quesada, led all qualifiers with a leap of 17.47, followed by Jonathan Edwards (17.28).

While the Bermudians had their day, Hicham El Guerrouj was crowned the new king of middle-distance running.

El Guerrouj beat the great Noureddine Morceli of Algeria to capture the 1,500-metre title. Morceli, the three-time defending champion, finished a badly beaten fourth, then fled in embarrassment.

"This victory is for King Hassan II and the people of Morocco,'' El Guerrouj said after winning in three minutes, 35.83 seconds. "This will make me forget that I was not an Olympic champion. Atlanta was a black point in my life.'' El Guerrouj appeared set to end Morceli's six-year reign at last year's Atlanta Games when he caught the pace-setting Algerian with about 500 metres left in the 1,500 final. The two then made contact and both stumbled, but El Guerrouj fell after tangling with Morceli's right foot.

Morceli, a 27-year-old who finished behind Spaniards Fermin Cacho, the 1992 Olympic champion, and Reyes Estevez, in 3:37.37, still is the world record-holder in the 1,500 and the mile.

"Over the past 20 years, we have had Coe, Cram, Aouita and Morceli,'' said El Guerrouj. "Hopefully now is the time for Hicham El Guerrouj.'' The showdown that turned into a mismatch highlighted the fifth day of the championships on a program that included seven world record-holders.

Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie, the world record-holder at 5,000 and 10,000 metres, who had threatened to skip the championships, won his third world title at 10,000 meters in 27:24.58. Cuba's Javier Sotomayor, the only high jumper to clear eight feet, won his second world title at 7-91 .

Wilson Boit Kipketer led a 1-2-3 Kenyan sweep in the 3,000-metre steeplechase, winning in 8:05.84, upsetting three-time defending champion and world record-holder Moses Kiptanui. And Tomas Dvorak of the Czech Republic won his first major title, taking the decathlon with 8,837 points, the third-highest score ever.

Gebrselassie, who had complained about the hardness of the track before coming to the championships and the hot weather in Athens, proved he could handle all the elements. He stayed among the leaders until about 550 metres remained, then put on a whirring burst to pull away.

"I knew this was not a fast race,'' he said. "This is a championship. My tactic was to follow and kick the last 500 metres.'' Sotomayor had been doubtful for the championships because of knee, foot and ankle injuries that resulted in his finishing 11th at the Olympics. But he decided late to compete and wound upwith the world's best jump this year.

Dvorak's decathlon score ranks behind only the 8,891 by Dan O'Brien, the three-time champion who was unable to defend his title because of injury, and the 8,847 by two-time Olympic champion Daley Thompson of Britain.

MAKING TRACKS -- While Bermuda's Troy Douglas was one of the top qualifiers in the 200-metres, Hicham El Guerrouj was a grateful winner in the 1,500m at the World Athletics Championships yesterday.