Then Zhanna Pintusevich-Block dropped to her knees in despair after starting off on her victory lap in Athens only to discover Jones had taken her first world title by just 0.02 seconds.

There was no doubting the winner this time as Jones, unbeaten since 1997 lost twice in one night, as the Ukrainian who had won the semi-final convincingly repeated the feat a couple of hours later.

The 29-year-old broke her personal best by 0.3secs to win in 10.82, the fastest time in the world this year, with Jones second in 10.85 and Ekaterini Thanou of Greece third in 10.91.

‘‘I’m disappointed as I did not come for the silver,’’ said Jones, who was even more of an odds-on favourite to complete a hat-trick of 100m titles than countryman Maurice Greene who managed the feat the day before. ‘‘But Zhanna just beat me straight up.

‘‘I am not a sore loser and you have to give credit to Zhanna. In 20 years time Zhanna’s grandchildren won’t remember what time she ran, but they will remember she was a world champion.

‘‘I ran 10.85 which is not bad at all but it was just was not enough. In the middle of the race I broke down a bit.

‘‘It happens sometime in sport, it doesn’t often happen to me, but in one of the biggest races of my career it did. Now I will have to regroup for the 200m.’’

Pintusevich-Block said: ‘‘This is unbelievable. I have been very close to Marion all season but I didn’t realise I could beat her until after the semi-final.

‘‘I felt so special in between those races. What happened in Athens is just another championships. Now I can just enjoy this victory.’’

Croydon’s Donna Fraser, fourth in last year’s epic Olympic 400m final, clocked a best time of 51.77secs in her injury-hit season but it was not enough to reach the final.

In the 400m hurdles, Sinead Dudgeon also bowed out finishing last in her semi in 56.92 while Janine Whitlock finished ninth in the pole vault final (4.35m) won by A

American Stacy Dragila with a clearance of 4.75m.