OSAKA, Japan — It took 11.01 seconds to finish the race to decide the fastest woman. For Veronica Campbell it seemed an eternity before she was declared the winner over defending 100-meter world champion Lauryn Williams.

In one of the closest finishes in championship history, Carmelita Jeter took bronze, one hundredth of a second behind the leading duo.

A third American, 2003 world champion Torri Edwards, took fourth place in 11.05.

Unlike Sunday’s men’s final, when Tyson Gay came from behind to beat Asafa Powell, it was the Jamaican catching up with the American to take gold this time.

In confusing scenes, Edwards was first flashed onto a stadium screen in first place. Then Campbell was given top place before the screen went blank, leaving all runners in suspense.

Only when Campbell’s name flashed up again on the screen was she confident enough to take the flag and start celebrating, leaving the Americans behind.

“I know I had a really good finish. It was so close I wasn’t really sure. I wasn’t 100 percent sure,” she said. Nobody was sure for more than five minutes.

It was the second classic final in as many days. Campbell was slow out of the blocks but caught the leaders who converged together in a blur of flying legs, arms and hair at the finish line.

In the end, Campbell made the difference when she lunged her left shoulder forward across the line while Williams dipped too early. On the photo finish, part of Campbell’s yellow top showed just ahead of the American’s blue.

“I cannot be upset,” Williams said. “I should not have leaned so early.”

“It was a very close race, and they kept playing it back and I know they go off your shoulders. The experts have a way of figuring it out — I’m sure they put their best foot forward to make sure no one got cheated.”

In 1993, American Gail Devers beat Merlene Ottey by .001 seconds to take the 100 world title, the closest previous finish.

In comparison, the longest race was the most predictable, with Kenenisa Bekele winning his third straight world title and the seventh of the past eight for Ethiopia in the 10,000 meters. He is unbeaten over the distance and made it a double for his country after Tirunesh Dibaba won the women’s title on Saturday.

He finished in 27 minutes 5.90 seconds, almost a minute off his world record. Credit the stifling heat of over high 80s and suffocating humidity. The result left him one title short of his compatriot Haile Gebrselassie.

This time though, he was pushed hard by compatriot Sileshi Sihine up to the last bend before his outstanding final kick made the difference.

Kenya’s Martin Mathathi took bronze.

In a major surprise, Portugal’s 23-year-old Nelson Evora came from obscurity to upset favorite Jadel Gregorio of Brazil and win the triple jump with his sixth national record in two years — 58 feet, 21⁄2 inches. Gregorio placed second with 57-81⁄2 and defending champion Walter Davis of the United States settled for bronze at 56-10 1-4.

The other final late today was the men’s triple jump.

While the United States dominated the opening weekend, Russia final got on the medals table with a 1-2 finish in the women’s steeple chase.

Yekaterina Volkova was already waving to the crowds with 80 meters to go and she finished in a championship record 9 minutes 6.57 seconds. The silver medalist from 2005 held a margin of 2.62 seconds over Tatyana Petrova. Kenya’s Eunice Jepkorir took bronze.

In a tactical team race, world record holder Gulnara Samitova-Galkina sacrificed her chances by setting the early pace before fading to seventh.

Japan’s big medal hopes faded with Olympic hammer throw champion Koji Murofushi’s sixth-place finish.

Ivan Tikhon of Belarus claimed his third straight title with a world leading throw of 83.63 meters on his last attempt. Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia took silver ahead of Slovakia’s Libor Charfreitag.

Japan’s best chance to medal now comes in the women’s marathon on Sunday’s closing day.

In the men’s 1,500 semifinals, Bernard Lagat of the United States won a wild heat to reach Wednesday, escaping the pushing and shoving which could see European champion Mehdi Baala of France eliminated for tripping Moroccan Youssef Baba in the finishing straight.

The year’s best performer, Alan Webb of the United States, only qualified as last from his heat. Defending champion Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain had the top time.

The United States earned an early lead in the medal standings with two gold and four medals overall on the opening two days. Five nations had one gold apiece.

In the 100 hurdles, Michelle Perry is tipped to add another gold. Her qualifying time of 12.72 seconds topped the four heats early today, and she felt ready for Wednesday’s final.

“Not too much effort was needed for 12.72 and that proves how fast is the track,” she said.