Idowu leaps with joy

Idowu produced a personal best of 17.73 metres in the third round of the triple jump final to beat great rival Nelson Evora of Portugal by 18 centimetres.

And the 30-year-old Londoner is already targeting Olympic glory on home soil in 2012, saying: "I still have the dream of being Olympic champion. It (London) is a long way away. I've got another couple of years and I've got to defend this title and have to defend my world indoor title next year."

Idowu missed out on the Olympic title by just five centimetres in Beijing last year but insists that was not a motivation for his sensational performance on Tuesday.

"Beijing was done, I had to move forward," he said. "I can't sit down and dwell on negativity. I've worked hard and knew I had a big jump in me and I'm just grateful it came out at the right time.

"Nelson went 17.54m to start but I just felt 'I can do that'. I came down just a little bit short but after he messed up in the second round I put in a solid second round and thought 'Just run, you're ready to explode' and it came together."

Idowu, the first male British world champion since Jonathan Edwards also won the triple jump in 2001 in Edmonton, added: "I just broke down in tears, it was emotional. I was just happy, giving my thanks to God for keeping me on top.

"I have to thank my coach, Aston Moore, he's been there over the last 12 months, through the ups and downs and he's always told me I'm a great athlete and there's a lot more to come. Even with a gold medal now I still believe there's more in there."

Idowu was Britain's only medallist on Tuesday as Christine Ohuruogu was unable to defend her 400m title and David Greene finished seventh in the 400m hurdles.

Ohuruogu, whose preparations were hampered by a hamstring injury, recorded a season's best of 50.21 seconds in finishing fifth, but was never in contention for a medal.