MERLENE OTTEY was cast in a familiar role on Saturday evening in the Olympic stadium here after being run out of the Olympic 100 metres gold medal she openly coveted.

On this occasion, the elegant Jamaican was placed second but the hurt was more acute than ever when a photo finish determined that she had beaten on the line by Gail Devers.

Both athletes were credited with the same time, 10.94 seconds, with Gwen Torrence, running in her home town, third, just two hundredths of a second away.

The margin between the first two was indetectable to the naked eye but after the official photograph of the finish had been studied by the judges, the American was declared the winner.

Ottey graciously hugged her but then promptly announced that she would file an appeal on the basis that she had got her torso over the line first. The photo finish picture appeared to show that the American's head was in front but the rules stipulate that it is the torso which is the relevant part of the body in such instances.

"It depends on how it's judged," said Ottey as she sought to bury her disappointment. "If it's the head, Gail won, if it's the torso I should have got it.

"It's one thing to be beaten clearly. But when you get to the line and believe that you have won, it's hard to be satisfied with a silver medal."

But in the end, it came down to the shoulder as Devers finished with her habitual dip and twist.

Daniel Lamare, the International Amateur Athletic Federation judge who referred the case to the jury of appeal, said: "It was an easy decision to make, it wasn't difficult. Once the picture was enhanced it clearly shows Devers was five centimetres ahead."

He displayed a computer-generated image of the two straining bodies on which a vertical red line indicated the finish. The top of Devers's shoulder, which constitutes part of her torso, impinged upon it; Ottey was five-thousandths of a second behind.

For Devers, one of the great competitors in women's athletics, it was the second consecutive Olympics at which she had triumphed in a tight finish. At Barcelona four years ago, it again required the intervention of the camera to determine that she had beaten another Jamaican, Juliet Cuthbert, by a hundredth of a second.

On this occasion, like Ottey, she craned her neck, watching every stride of the slow motion replay but, even then, she did not dare show any emotion. Finally, came the official announcement and the explosion of sound in the packed arena which proclaimed another American success.

Devers had just become the first woman since Wyomia Tyus in 1968, to score back to back wins in the 100 metres championship and the outpouring of joy was spontaneous.

She jumped in the air, raised one finger in a victory salute and then bounded into the arms of her coach, Bob Kersee whose wife, Jackie Joyner-Kersee had earlier been forced to withdraw through injury from the pentathlon.

"I've been there before," said Kersee. "Gail gets her head and torso in better than anybody I know and she's won it on merit.

"I understand Merlene's frustration perfectly. She's one of the queens of the track and she's be involved in some very tough finishes. But the judges have to call it as they see it."

The champion admitted that she was uncertain whether she had won or not after crossing the line. "Standing there, waiting on them to call out a name, it felt like Barcelona in 1992 all over again," she said.