The US Olympic Track and Field Trials broke the record in terms of aggregate attendance and those 187,104 who came to Hornet Stadium during the week were drawn by the cold, hard format.

No excuses, no pleas of mitigation, no back doors. Those with solid-gold reputations were dealt the same way as those who made up the numbers as the Sacramento temperatures soared into the merciless three figures. The first world record of the meet came late yesterday afternoon, when the world's pre-eminent women's pole vaulter, Stacey Dragila, a local hero in Sacramento soared over 15.02.25 to beat her two-month-old record of 15.01.75.

There was a certain inevitability about the men's high jump also when Charles Austin leaped 7.07.25 to qualify and win his sixth successive US national championship.

For Gail Devers, a loser in the 100-metres final there was redemption in the 100-metres hurdles, when she made an astonishing start to devastate the field with a new American record of 12.33 seconds. Melissa Morrisson and Sharon Jewell join her in Sydney.

The women's 800-metres final was family business. Sisters Hazel Clark and Joetta Clarke-Diggs were joined at the start by sister-in-law Jearl Miles Clarke. In the end, Hazel Clark came through to win ahead of Jearl Miles Clarke with Joetta Clarke-Diggs getting a photo-finish decision on third place. In the end, one-hundred of a second sent the three Clarks to Sydney. Unbelievable.

The men's race couldn't hope for that sort of drama. Trinity Gray led for 600 metres before being hauled down by the veteran Mark Everrett 1:45.67. Rich Kenah and Bryan Woodward make up the places for Sydney.

Meanwhile, America's pre-eminent middle-distance runner for the past decade lost out. Bob Kennedy, suffering the after-effects of a car accident last May, finished sixth after his gamble to take the sting out of the last laps by taking the lead early on. His time of 13:42:15 was 48 seconds outside his own record and well off the pace in a race won by Adam Goucher.

In the women's 5000 metres there was more of an adherence to formlines. Regina Jacobs has looked lean and wolfish all week and duly she devoured the field in the final, just as she had done in the 1500 metres earlier in the week.

Her second title of the trials came wrapped in the fastest 5000 metres time in the world this year, 14:45.35, almost seven seconds ahead of her previous American record.

Jacobs left the field behind after three laps and streaked home to win by about 100 yards. Mercifully for her rivals, she announced that she was opting to run the 1500 metres in Sydney.

With second-placed Deena Drossin already qualified in the 10,000 metres and opting to concentrate on that event, it meant good news for Mark Carroll's partner Any Rudolph who finished a slightly disappointing fourth, but will most likely travel to Sydney anyway, as will fifth-placed Anne Marie Lauck. Explaining a decision which apparently went against the instincts of her husband and coach Tom Craig, Jacobs said: "That's something I've been dreaming of for a long time, to win an Olympic medal in the 1,500 and possibly get under Mary Slaney's record."

Some Olympic medallists were among the casualties too. 400-metres hurdles champion Derrick Adkins, who suffers bouts of clinical depression failed to get out of his semi-finals heats and ended his career here in Sacramento.

Adkins had come off medication two weeks before the trials in an attempt to rediscover the form which made him a world champion in Gothenburg in 1995 and an Olympic champion in Atlanta a year later.

"I just didn't have it," he said afterwards. "This was the Olympics though, so I had to come out and try. I gave it three years. Now I'm at peace. It's time to start the rest of my life." Adkins has been studying theology and will return to academia on a full time basis.

Olympic triple jump champion Kenny Harrison failed to make yesterday's final.

Harrison claimed gold in Atlanta by hopping, skipping and jumping some 18.09 metres ( the second best triple-jump of all time), but couldn't hobble more than 16.15 metres this time around, just not enough to make the final in what was a generally lacklustre triple-jump competition won eventually by Robert Howard.

Suprises too in the decathlon. With Dan O'Brien crying off with an injury the script demanded that the competition mark the coronation of Chris Huffins, a bronze medalist at the 1999 World Championships and the man who has been huffing and puffing about wanting to beat O' Brien for the past two years or so.

Victory went instead to last year's NCAA colleges champion Tom Pappas, the 23-year-old whippersnapper piling up 8,467 points to beat Huffins comfortably.

Huffins won late points however with his prompt post-competition rationalisation. "I'd say there's a modicum of disappointment," he said. "But considering I didn't eat last night and had two IVs (intravenous fluids), I'm just pleased to be going to Sydney."