It was a day when a new era unfolded in triple jumping, while Bermuda's Brian Wellman carved out his own piece of local sporting history.

Wellman captured the silver medal in the triple jump at the World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden yesterday, becoming the first Bermudian to reach the medal podium of one of athletics' premier events.

His silver medal leap of 17.62 metres (57 feet, 93 inches) was overshadowed, however, by Jonathan Edwards of England, who became the first man to jump over 18 metres while winning the gold medal.

Edwards twice shattered his own world best mark in each of his opening two efforts, finally setting a new record of 18.29 metres (60 feet, 1 inches).

For the 27-year-old Wellman, the silver medal caps a spectacular year which also saw him grab the gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in Barcelona, Spain.

It was Wellman's third best leap ever, all three coming in a year which also saw him jump a wind-aided 17.79 (58-3) in Madrid, 17.72 (58-13 ) at the Indoor Worlds and 17.62 at El Paso.

Last night Gloria and Wilbert Wellman, Brian's parents, were quietly, but proudly, marking their son's achievement.

"We're happy and very excited,'' said Mrs. Wellman. "We just had a feeling he was going to do it because he sounded so positive.'' The Wellman-Edwards showdown was what the capacity crowd of 35,000 inside the Gothenburg stadium came to see and they were not disappointed.

When Edwards first smashed the long-standing record last month, Wellman predicted that the new mark would be the one to beat during the Outdoor Worlds.

Last night Wellman could not be reached for comment but the Bermudian, according to his manager Robert Klingensmith, was celebrating with fellow triple jumpers at an outdoor cafe in Gothenburg.

"Brian's not much of a partier, but I'm sure in his own way of celebrating he's savouring his silver medal right now,'' said Klingensmith.

Meanwhile, the three-time Bermuda athlete of the year signed a lucrative two-year deal with giant shoe-maker Nike prior to his silver medal leap "worth well into the five figures US each year'', said Klingensmith. "Brian, by far, now has the largest shoe and apparel endorsement of all the triple jumpers right now. Edwards probably has outearned him because of bonuses, but in terms of a base salary nobody's beating Brian with Nike.'' Klingensmith said Wellman -- who was jumping after Edwards -- felt tremendous pressure after the Briton had set a new world record.

"Brian's first jump was a foul, he only had two legal jumps,'' said Klingensmith. "It was really windy and it had to be very difficult for him to jump right after Edwards.

"We're really proud of Brian,'' he added. "He has an enormous financial temptation to jump quite a bit this summer inasmuch as every triple jump event wanted him, but he stuck to his training plan and in fact changed his plan to compete in a couple of late season meets and I think that really paid off for him.'' Klingensmith said that Wellman's value is certain to rise now that he has won the silver medal.

"I can't give the numbers but with this silver medal he probably increased his base this year and next by over a third. He's finally getting his due. I think what he did today really reinforced his reputation.'' SILVER LINING -- Bermuda triple jumper Brian Wellman (right) celebrates winning the silver medal at the World Athletics Championships yesterday with bronze medallist Jerome Romain of Dominica (left) and Briton Jonathan Edwards who took the gold with two record-breaking jumps. -- Reuter