Another wild night inside the Olympic Stadium, and for one moment that beautiful Calatrava roof was in danger of being blown off, as well it might. All because the Greeks had suddenly found a new idol in the 400 metre hurdler Fani Halkia, a timely replacement for their fallen sprint hero Kostas Kenteris.

There's not a whole lot to say about Halkia except that she's improved dramatically this year. Not that the Greeks seemed to know or even care. When the blond-streaked Halkia hit the finish line with arms aloft and the 72,000 sell-out crowd on their feet, Calatrava must have been praying his roof design was in no way faulty. Thankfully for all involved it survived.

So we got to hear that short and sweet Greek anthem inside the Olympic Stadium for only the second time this week - the other time being for their race walker, Athanasia Tsoumeleka. But that was nothing compared to this.

Halkia put on the perfect show, powering out of the blocks and always in contention for a medal. The Australian world champion, Jana Pittman, was the only threat coming off the final bend, but Halkia had so much in reserve she won pulling away. Her time of 52.82 seconds was simply remarkable considering she hadn't broken 57 seconds before this season.

"Just an incredible race," she said. "The crowd was amazing, and the atmosphere they created was unprecedented for me. I wanted to prove that when the Greeks put their minds to it they can step up to the highest spot on the podium.

"And I believe what I did today goes to show that the Greeks are full of soul, and they deserve recognition from everyone.

But no one expects the Greeks to have such an achievement to show for it. It always comes as a surprise, whether you're a Greek fan or not."

Ionela Tirlea of Romania came through to take silver in 53.38, with Tetiana Tereshchuk of the Ukraine taking bronze in 53.44. Pittman, who had a serious knee injury coming into Athens, faded to fifth in 53.92.

Halkia was quickly thrown a Greek flag. She collapsed to the track, threw off her shoes, and then exploded into a victory lap that wasn't too far off her winning time. Along the way she met her coach Yorgoa Panayiotopoulos, the former Greek 200 metre sprinter that she claims has turned around her career. Panayiotopoulos was coached by the now notorious Christos Tzekos.

The world record holder Yuliya Pechenkina of Russia was last in 55.79.

The women's 200 metre final was almost doomed for insignificance after all this, but for the record was won gracefully by Veronica Campbell of Jamaica in 22.05 - a new personal best - and also created a new world junior record with the second place finish of the American Allyson Felix.

While Campbell dominated from the gun, adding to the bronze she won over 100 metres, the 18-year-old Felix closed fast to take silver in 22.18. Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas took bronze in 22.30, with the second Jamaican Aleen Bailey fourth in 22.42.

With the rest of the night dominated by a horde of qualify rounds in the men's 800 metres and 110 metres there was bound to be some surprises. It arrived sooner rather than later when the four-time world champion and former Olympic champion Allen Johnson crashed out of heat two of the 110 metre hurdles, the American hitting a series of hurdles before running foot first into the second last, crashing right under the last, and ending up flat on his stomach. One medal contender already out of the way.

The men's 800 metres went a little more to plan, but with qualification so ruthless there were also victims, most obviously the former world champion Andre Bucher of Switzerland - third in heat eight in 1:47.34. Fastest to qualify was Wilson Kipketer in 1:44.69.