Phillips Idowu is determined not to rest on his laurels after becoming the first British man to win gold at athletics' World Championships in eight years. The Londoner produced a personal best of 17.73metres in the third round of the triple jump final to beat great rival Nelson Evora of Portugal by 18 centimetres.

And Idowu is already targeting Olympic glory on home soil in 2012 after missing out on gold by just five centimetres in Beijing last year.

“I still have the dream of being Olympic champion,” said Idowu, who was born in Hackney near the site of the Olympic stadium.

“The London Games are 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. Beijing was done, I had to move forward.

“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 a little bit short but 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 won the triple jump in 2001, said: “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, 30, was Britain's only medallist last night 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 50.21sec in finishing fifth, but the Olympic champion never in contention for a medal.

Sanya Richards made a more measured start than the one which cost her dear in the Olympic final in Beijing, the American then powering clear down the home straight to win her first individual major title in 49.00sec.

Ohuruogu said: “I'm not going to blame the hamstring, if it was giving me any problems I wouldn't have run today.

“It was a good run from Sanya, don't take anything away from that. It was a brilliant time and she probably wanted it more than the rest of us did. She did a good job.”

Greene had set a personal best of 48.27sec to reach the final but was unable to live with a ferocious pace as American Kerron Clement successfully defended his title.

“I wanted to run faster but my body just said no,” said the 23-year-old from Llanelli, who clocked 48.68sec. “I had nothing left in the tank. But for me to run 48.68 on what I call a bad day is really good.

“In the future I'll be looking at under 48 seconds and a shot at medals. I'm not afraid of these people. I'm ready to take on the world's best.”

Morocco's Jamel Chatbi was pulled out of last night men's steeplechase final after testing positive for the stimulant clenbuterol.

Chatbi, who was tested after the heats, is the first athlete to fail a drugs test during the championships.