American sprinter-hurdler Gail Devers

    BEIJING, Mar. 6, (Xinhuanet) -- American sprinter-hurdler Gail Devers completed a hat-trick of world indoor 60 meter titles Friday.

    The 37-year-old veteran, who boasted an array of titles, including two Olympic and three world golds, won in 7.08 seconds.

    Belgian Kim Gevaert settled for the silver medal in 7.12 with Yuliya Nesterenko of Belarus grabbing bronze in the same time.

    Devers will now bid to become the first athlete to win both sprint and hurdles in the 17-year history of the championships.

    Briton Jason Gardener took the men's 60 meters title in 6.49 seconds, giving British athletics something to cheer following the two-year doping ban handed to European champion Dwain Chambers last month.

    American Shawn Crawford came in second at 6.52 and Greek Yeoryios Theodoridis was third in 6.54.

British athlete Jason Gardener

    Mozambique's Maria Mutola opened her bid for a record sixth world indoor 800 meters title in impressive fashion by treating her opening heat like a final.

    The Olympic and world champion, who has dominated the two-lap discipline for over a decade, ran hard from the starting gun and beat her rivals by almost 50 meters.

    Her time of 1:\57.72 would have been good enough to win gold at three of the last four championships.

    Athletics' oldest world record remained intact yet again as Vita Pavlysh won the women's shot put. The 35-year-old Ukrainian, who also won the event in 1997, blasted out 20.39 meters in the second round and 20.49 in the fourth.

    But the world mark of Czech Helena Fibingerova + 22.50, set 27 years ago + remained as elusive as ever.

    Kenyan Bernard Lagat set the fastest qualifying time in the men 's 3000 meters to confirm his favorite status for gold in the absence of Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele.

    Ethiopia's depth of talent was underlined when 20-year-old Meseret Defar, the world junior 5000 meters women's champion, won her heat to join compatriot Berhane Adere, the defending 3000 meters champion, in Sunday's final. Enditem