SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ It was a night of another Olympic disappointment for Gail Devers, a night of triumph for a little-known U.S. male hurdler and an easy night of work for Marion Jones.

And all around the track, there seemed to be the taint of drugs.

With an injured Devers suddenly reduced to the role of spectator, a hurdler who missed the last Olympics on a drug ban captured the one medal Devers truly wanted.

Olga Shishigina of Kazakstan won the 100-meter hurdles Wednesday in 12.65 seconds. Glory Alozie of Nigeria won the silver and Melissa Morrison of the United States _ wearing dark glasses at night _ won the bronze.

Alozie's fiance was killed when hit by a car in Sydney a few days before the games opened. He had been training with the Nigerian team before the Olympics.

American Angelo Taylor won gold in the men's 400-meter hurdles. Germany's Nils Schumann held off Wilson Kipketer at the finish line of the 800 meters to win that race. In women's events, Russia's Irina Privalova won the 400-meter hurdles and Ellina Zvereva of Belarus won the discus with a throw of 224 feet, 5 inches (68.40 meters).

It was a quick night of work for Jones. She continued her quest for five gold medals by reaching the semifinals of the 200 and advancing to the long jump final on her first qualifying jump with a leap of 22 feet, 3 inches (6.78 meters).

Jones was back in the sanctuary of the track a day after defending her husband. Jones captured gold in the 100 meters last weekend but since then has been engulfed in controversy surrounding husband C.J. Hunter's positive drug tests.

"This is where I love to be. I love to be out there in front of the fans, in front of the lights. It kind of gets my mind off everything," she said. "There's so much going on right now, which I'll deal with when all the Sydney Games are done. But this is what I love to do, and it was a good day overall _ probably the best."

But Jones' medal hunt now is imperiled by injuries to two of her teammates on the U.S. 400-meter relay squad. Devers and Inger Miller both have hamstring problems and are questionable for the relay.

Joining Jones in Thursday's 200-meter semifinals were U.S. teammates Nanceen Perry and Torri Edwards, who replaced injured world champion Miller. Also advancing was 400-meter gold medalist Cathy Freeman.

Shishigina missed the 1996 Atlanta Olympics while serving a two-year drug ban. She was suspended for four years in May 1996 for testing positive for stanozolol, the same steroid that cost Ben Johnson a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Games. Her ban later was cut to two years.

That wasn't the only drug news from the track Wednesday.

World record-holder and world champion Mihaela Melinte of Romania was escorted away by officials when she tried to compete in the women's hammer throw, two days after Romanian officials were told she had failed a pre-games drug test.

It was the first time anyone could recall seeing an Olympic athlete removed from the field because of a drug test result.

In the women's 100-meter hurdles, Devers was favored to finally win a medal that had eluded her for so long. But she stopped midway through her semifinal with a left hamstring tear and did not finish the race.

It was the latest chapter in the hard-luck Olympic saga of Devers, who just missed out on medals at the 1992 and 1996 games.

"I don't think luck has anything to do with track and field. I think it's skill," she said. "I'd say my skills were not good enough to keep me going tonight. And that's the end of the story."

Devers has been one of the world's best hurdlers for the past decade, but has never won a medal in Olympic hurdles. All three of her gold medals at the Barcelona and Atlanta games _ including two 100-meter titles _ came in sprints.

Devers made a heroic recovery from a serious illness just to compete in the 1992 Olympics.

She did not compete in 1989 and 1990 because of Graves Disease, a thyroid abnormality that caused her feet to swell so much she was within days of having them amputated.

"My aim was to make it to the final and give it my all until the leg falls off," she said. "Is this a jinx? Is this '92 all over again? No. I have the utmost faith and belief in God and my spirituality, and I know he had plans for me."

In the men's 1,500-meter semifinal, defending champion Nourredine Morceli of Algeria stopped on the final straight after he was spiked by another competitor. He walked across the finish line in disgust, spitting on the ground.

Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj won his semifinal heat in 3 minutes, 37.60 seconds. American Jason Pyrah also advanced to Friday's final.

In the men's 200, Americans Floyd Heard, Coby Miller and John Capel all advanced to the semifinals. So did Ato Boldon, who is favored.

U.S. decathlete Chris Huffins had 4,554 points to lead after five events. Dean Macey was eight points behind, and Erki Nool was third. American Tom Pappas was fourth with 4,476 points after the first day of the two-day competition.

American pole vaulters Lawrence Johnson and Nick Hysong advanced to the final. But 1988 Olympic champion Sergei Bubka and defending champion Jean Galfione were eliminated in the qualifying round.

In the men's hurdles, Taylor ran a personal-best time of 47.50 seconds but had to lean at the finish to edge Hadi Souan Somayli of Saudi Arabia _ who won his nation's first Olympic medal. Llewellyn Herbert of South Africa won the bronze.

In the men's 800, Schumann won in 1 minute, 45.08 seconds. Kipketer got the silver and Aissa Djabir Said-Guerni of Algeria won the bronze.

Privalova, the 1992 Olympic bronze medalist in the 100 meters, won the women's 400-meter hurdles in 53.02 seconds. Deon Hemmings of Jamaica won the silver, Nouzha Bidouane of Morocco the bronze.

(Copyright 2000 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)