By Matt Westcott

in Manchester, England

On a night when the Commonwealth Games triple jump record swapped hands on no less than three occasions, Bermuda's Brian Wellman was almost as much of a spectator as the 30-odd thousand people in the crowd at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Wellman, cheered on by members of the Island squad, could only muster a best jump of 15.84 metres which saw him in eighth place in the final.

That was well behind eventual winner Jonathan Edwards who shattered the Games record with a third jump of 17.86m. The silver medal went to fellow Englishman Phillips Idowu, who himself had set a then Games mark of 17.68m earlier in the evening.

Leevan Sands of the Bahamas must have thought he had the event wrapped up when he was the first to break the record with a jump of 17.26m. However, he had not banked on the English pair, who were roared on by a fervent sell-out crowd.

By the end of his third jump, Wellman may as well have been among them.

His first effort was a no-jump, his foot being well over the take-off board. His second proved to be his one and only legal effort but even that drew a shake of the head and a dismissive wave of the hand when the scoreboard showed 15.84m.

And his final attempt was over almost as soon as it began, Wellman pulling up well before the sand pit. With that, he went down on his haunches, then sat on the track and eventually made his way back to his chair to get dressed and watch his fellow athletes fight it out.

Whether he was injured, was suffering from a bad run of form or had just had a bad day at the office we shall never know as when the event came to an end he disappeared into the night. In fact, it was almost as if he had never been there at all.

Earlier, there was more disappointment for 200 metre runner Xavier James.

Having set a personal best time of 21.04 seconds in round one to qualify as one of four fourth fastest losers, he had hoped to make the semi-final with a run equal to or better than that.

But it wasn't to be, his chances suffering a severe dent even before he had taken his place in the blocks.

First of all he was drawn in lane one and secondly he had to line up against Games' record holder and medal favourite Frankie Fredericks of Namibia and Darren Campbell of England.

Fredericks won in 20.58 with Campbell setting a season best time of 20.70 in second. That pair plus Jermaine Joseph of Canada and South Africa's Morne Nagel qualified for the next round. James came in last, dead heating with Jamial Rolle of the Bahamas in 21.50.

"I got two tough rounds," he said. "In the first I was in the fastest heat - I just didn't get a break.

"In this round I had the fastest man in the world, the fastest Brit, fastest Canadian . . . but I knew I had a quality field and if I had replicated my time from the heats I would have possibly made it through.

"I am disappointed, 21.50 is not what I was expecting. I never should be running that slow. I am happy I got a PB (personal best) but . . ."

On Saturday, nursing a debilitating illness, a desperately upset Tamika Williams crashed out of the Commonwealth Games after the first heat of the women's 800 metres and declared: "I just want to go home".

What should have been the highlight of her athletics career turned sour when she was hit by a bug three days prior to competition.

Williams was drawn in Heat Two of the event at the City of Manchester Stadium, alongside none other than Games record holder Maria Mutola of Mozambique, whose time of 1:57.60 was set in Kuala Lumpur four years ago.

But Williams' hopes of qualifying for the next round were shattered when she found herself laid low when she should have been training.

As a result she came in fifth in a time of 2:06.57, five seconds behind Mutola, who won the heat. The second qualification place went to Scotland's Susan Scott.

Williams' time, however, was better than her rival Lwiza John of the United Republic of Tanzania who trailed in last in 2:14.38.

"I've been under a lot stress from just being here and all the formalities," she said. "I have also been pretty sick with I don't know what, but I've had swollen glands and have had difficulty breathing and all that stuff.

"I have been trying to rest and have been doing minimum work and trying to save some energy, but I obviously didn't have anything left on the track today," she said.

Asked if she felt she should have actually gone out and competed, Williams said: "No. I probably shouldn't have raced today. But I am here. It's my first time and I was lucky enough to be in one of the most prestigious heats with Maria Mutola."

Williams said as a result she wanted to give it a go. "I felt like I could do something," she said. "I just wanted to see what I had. But after the first 300 metres I realised that my body wasn't ready to race today."

There were some positives for Williams to take out of the race.

"It's been an experience," she said. "And it will perhaps take away from the intimidation the next time. Knowing I have been there and I can do it and knowing that if I was healthy I would have been able to stay with them up until the end and then have been able to kick in, but things happen."