BERLIN, Germany (CMC) – The magnificent Usain Bolt stepped closer to 200-metre gold and Shericka Williams copped silver in the women’s 400 metres as Jamaicans maintained their prominence at the 12th IAAF World Championship yesterday.

Williams ran a career-best 49.32 seconds to chase American Sanya Richards in the women’s 400-metre final after the 100-metre champion and double world record holder Bolt cruised through two rounds of the 200 metres at the Berlin Olympic Stadium.

Williams, also a silver medallist at the Beijing Olympics last year, was just a shade outside Lorraine Fenton’s Jamaica record 49.30 as she produced a determined finish for the runner-up spot.

Jamaica-born Richards finally captured her first major title with a solid run, coming home a clear winner after outpacing the field.

Russian Antonina Krivoshapka (49.71) was third, edging Jamaican Novlene Williams-Mills (49.77) for the bronze.

Britain’s Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu struggled for fifth place in 50.21.

Bolt stepped up a gear from his early morning run and won his quarter-final 200 in 20.41 seconds in the evening session, trotting through the final stages of the race to beat France’s David Alerte (20.51).

Bolt’s Jamaican team-mate Steve Mullings clocked the round’s quickest time in 20.23 to win quarter-final Heat 3 in which Antiguan Pan American Games champion Brendan Christian placed fourth in 20.58 to advance with T&T’s Emmanuel Callender (20.62).

Bahamian triple jump star Leevan Sands, an Olympic bronze medallist in Beijing last year, was a mere four centimetres outside of medal range.

He posted 17.32 metres for fourth place as Britain’s Phillips Idowu won gold at 17.73 metres ahead of Portugal’s Nelson Evora (17.55m) and Cuban Alexis Copello (17.36m).

Caribbean runners Jehue Gordon and Danny McFarlane missed out on medals in the men’s 400-metre hurdles final but the teenager Gordon was brilliant in taking fourth in a national record 48.26 seconds.

T&T-born American Kerron Clement ran a world-leading 47.91 to repeat as champion, chased by Puerto Rico’s Javier Culson (NR) and American Bershawn Jackson (48.23).

Gordon, a double CARIFTA Games champion four months ago in St Lucia, was only 0.03 seconds off the bronze medal and reaffirmed his status as the fastest 17-year-old ever over the distance.

The Jamaican 37-year-old veteran McFarlane, a silver medallist at the Athens Olympics five years ago, was sixth in 48.65 seconds.

Olympic women’s 400-metre hurdles champion Melaine Walker, below par for most of the season, appears to be peaking at the right time, the Jamaican surging to a fine win in semi-final one in a personal season’s best 53.26.

T&T’s Josanne Lucas finished second to Walker in a national record in 53.98 seconds.

The men began 400-metre preliminaries in the morning session and T&T’s Renny Quow, Bahamians Chris Brown and Ramon Miller, and the rising US Virgin Islands’ star Tabarie Henry emerged as first-round winners.

Quow captured Heat 2 in 45.21 seconds, Brown landed Heat 3 in 45.53, Miller clocked a personal best 45.00 seconds to land Heat 5, and Henry won the last race, Heat 7, in 45.14 seconds.

Miller’s time was the fastest of the round.

Other Caribbean athletes advancing to the second round include Jamaican Ricardo Chambers (45.57) and Dominican Erison Hurtault (45.55)

Bahamian Michael Mathieu was disqualified and Grenada’s Rondell Bartholomew (46.85) failed to advance.

Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt (45.23) and defending champion Jeremy Wariner (45.54) were the American first-round winners.

St Lucian Levern Spencer, CARICOM’s No.1 high jumper, was eliminated in her preliminary outing.

Her best effort was 1.89 metres, well below her personal record 1.95m, as she placed 13th in Group A qualifying, which was topped by defending champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia at 1.95 metres