EDMONTON, Alberta - To Baltimore's Bernard Williams, the bronze medal he won in the 100 meters at the VIII World Championships of Track and Field yesterday was as good as gold.

U.S. teammates Maurice Greene and Tim Montgomery were the only men ahead of Williams in the eight-man sprint final at Commonwealth Stadium that commanded intense global attention.

"This is the same thing," said Carver graduate Williams, 23, comparing his bronze medal to the gold he earned as a member of the U.S. 400-meter relay team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

"As long as I can contribute to the success of the U.S.A., I'm very pleased."

Every American track enthusiast had to be pleased - overjoyed, actually - with this one.

Not since Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell and Dennis Mitchell went 1-2-3 at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo had the United States swept the 100 at the world championships. Not since 1912, though, have American 100 men gone 1-2-3 in the Olympic Games.

Kansas City product Greene, the world-record holder at 9.79 and Williams' training partner, ran off with his third consecutive gold in the 100 at the world championships, clocking in at 9.82 seconds, the third fastest in history. Only his 9.79 world record (in 1999) and his 9.80 (in this year's U.S. Nationals) are faster.

But Greene, 27, had to run for his life to take the gold - and the $60,000 check that went with it. As Greene labored through the final meters with a sore left knee, Norfolk State grad Montgomery, 26, closed dramatically. His lean into the finish line left him just short, but his 9.85 performance was just 1/100th shy of his career best and worth $40,000.

Williams, who ran a 9.94 to earn $20,000, was the only medalist to set a personal record. His previous best was the 9.95 in Saturday's quarterfinals here.

Three false starts -- charged, in order, to Kim Collins, the Texas Christian student running for St. Kitts and Nevis; Trinidad's Ato Boldon; and Montgomery - made the eight finalists jumpy.

Starting on the fourth attempt, Greene was first out of the blocks (with a reaction time to the starting gun of 0.132 seconds) and Great Britain's Christian Malcolm (0.142) and Williams (0.146) were close behind.

Greene and Montgomery ran 1-2 the whole way, but Williams had to overhaul Boldon in the final 15 meters to earn the bronze.

"I just had to stay composed," said Williams. "That comes with experience. You learn from every situation.

"I gave the U.S. everything I had, and I set a PR, I guess you can't do more than that. The future's looking very bright. I'd planned on being `the man' this week, but I came up two numbers short.

"So that may have to wait, and I know I have a lot of hard work to do, but I do know I can run with the best of them."

Boldon, winner of two Olympic sprint medals at Sydney, settled for fourth in 9.98. Britain's Dwain Chambers (9.99) was fifth and Caribbean Games champion Collins, sixth (10.07.)

Greene, also the defending 200 world champion, began hobbling seconds after crossing the finish line and soon announced he'd sit out that event and also was doubtful for the 400 relay.

Still, the U.S. relay team featuring Williams and Montgomery would be favored to win.

Williams ran a strong, controlled 10.06-second semifinal at 3:30 p.m. to extend his winning streak at the worlds to three and clinch his spot in the title race two hours and 20 minutes later. Williams ran hard for 90 meters of the semifinal, then coasted in ahead of Montgomery (10.07), and Great Britain's Chambers (10.10) and Malcolm (10.24.)

Greene had taken the first semifinal moments earlier in 10.01.

If Williams had a single regret, it was that his mother, Angela Williams, a dietitian at a nursing home in Maryland, was not in Alberta.

"I would have loved to have my Mom here," said Williams, "but she had to work today and was back home. I know she'll be very pleased, though. When I get home, I'll share my medal with her."

NOTES: Marion Jones showed why she hasn't lost a 100 final in four years by winning her heats in rounds one and two, then predicted a sensational time in her final.

Jones, the Olympic gold medalist, blazed to victory in 10.93 in a first-round heat - a time that no other woman in the world has bettered this year, and followed that by winning her quarterfinal heat in 10.97. Jones' fastest this season is 10.84 in Paris last month, and her career best is 10.65. "Ten-seven, 10.6 might be possible," she said of tonight's final. The semifinals also will be run today.

In other finals yesterday, Olympic champion Szymon Ziolkowski of Poland took the hammer throw with a meet record 273 feet, 7 inches; Yanina Korolchik of Belarus won the women's shot put with a national record of 67-7 1/2 , and Yelena Prokhorova of Russia took the women's heptathlon with her season's best of 6,694 points.