One-word headlines ran across the newspapers in Canada yesterday: shocker, upset, and defeat. Yet they all told the same story.

Zhanna Pintusevich-Block was world 100-metre champion, without doubt the biggest shock to hit these world championships. Marion Jones was beaten in a sprint, and that's as big an upset and as big a defeat as this sport can produce.

As that air of invincibility that Jones had brought to Edmonton was blown away at the Commonwealth Stadium on Monday night, the questions gradually mounted; could Jones regain it, could she become unbeatable again, or was this the start of her decline.

The most likely influence on that, part from the athlete herself, is Pintusevich-Block. In other words, she may now become the one to establish a winning streak.

At 29, the Ukrainian may seem old for a sprinter but she still looks a little off her peak. Her winning time of 10.82 seconds was the fastest in the world this year and an improvement on her previous best of 10.85, set back in 1997. It was also her first major title in the shorter sprint.

She was previously remembered, and especially to Jones, as the athlete who looked to have won the world title in 1997 in Athens.

Pintusevich-Block actually started on a victory lap, only to realise as she watched the replay screen that Jones had in fact won, out - leaning her by .02 of a second. Yet she came back and won the 200 metres, still known as her significantly weaker event.

Since then, events off the track haven't helped her focus on the sprint. Born in the former Soviet town of Nezhin, she moved to the US three years after divorcing her husband Igor Pintusevich. She grew closer to her American agent Mark Block, better known as Ray Flynn's sidekick in the Irishman's successful athletics management business, and the two married in 1999.

Now settled in Johnson city, Tennessee, her coaching was taken over by Block after she finished a disappointing fifth in the Sydney Olympics last year. Rather than squander her form on the Grand Prix circuit, she competed less frequently and trained more intensely.

In her post-victory press conference, she explained her road to victory: "I've been thinking and dreaming about this moment for four years, ever since Athens. I think I did everything perfect here. The whole season I have been really close to Marion, so I knew everything was possible here."

Her husband, a former coach at East Tennessee, Clemson and Cal- Berkley, explained further: "She asked for my help and I didn't really have a choice. So we changed her start and her acceleration."

And so the athlete who ran middle distance in school but starting sprinting because she could beat all the boys had just taken over the mantle as the fastest women on earth. As she continues to perfect her style and training, and now with the psychological edge on Jones, there is no reason why she can't keep that title from the American for a couple of more seasons at least.

Jones, meanwhile, has reached unmapped territory in her career. Prior to Monday's semi-final, the US media were handing out the long list of races that made up her 100-metre winning streak. (Talk about tempting fate.)

Anyway, from the Tokyo Grand Prix in 1997, where she was beaten into second by Merlene Ottey, there were 55 races, including the world final in 1999 and the Olympic decider last year, all with the same result; Jones was winning, every time and every place.

Then the gun went off in the semi-final in Edmonton and immediately it was clear Jones was looking shaky. The body was rolling more notably and the face was far from relaxed. At the line, Pintusevich-Block had out-leaned her, 10.94 to 10.95, and so ended that chapter in the American's career.

In the final she looked equally concerned and although she did chase down the Ukrainian right to the line, losing out by .03 of a second, that daunting gap she typically opens on her opposition from midway down the straight never looked like seeing any light.

The only excuse afterwards was that she was human after all: "Of course I didn't come here expecting to lose. But it's a sport where it happens sometimes and yes, I'm disappointed. Unfortunately, it happened in one of the biggest races of my career.

"But Zhanna just beat me straight today. Today she was the better sprinter and she deserves the gold. I thought I had a good start. In the middle of the race I broke down a bit. Again, that happens sometimes. It just doesn't happen often to me."

At 25, few people doubt Jones still has some great years ahead of her. This season has also been difficult off the track, not least of all with the high-profile separation from husband CJ Hunter - the man thrown out of the Sydney Olympic shot put after failing a drug test. She would have to be totally inhuman for that sort of thing not to effect her focus on the track.

From now on, though, the level of her targets is likely to come down a notch. Her drive for five failed in Sydney last year and her quest for three gold medals here has also fallen short. Yet later in the week, when she returns to the track for the 200 metres (an event in which the Ukrainian doesn't run), the likelihood is Jones will get back on the winning trail.