Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj partly atoned for his Olympic misery by claiming his third world 1,500m crown in emphatic fashion.

The world record holder, who unexpectedly missed out on the Olympic crown he craved when beaten by Kenya's Noah Ngeny - who was not sent to these championships - never looked like suffering a repeat.

The 26-year-old could afford to kiss his gold chain in delight in the home straight to win in 3:30.68 with Kenya's Bernard Lagat second (3:31.10) and Driss Maazouzi of France third in a season's best 3:31.54.

El Guerrouj, who received help from Moroccan team-mate Adil Kaouch to push the pace along in the opening two laps, proved simply too fast for his rivals.

He said: "It was a very easy race for me today. I came in confident and I knew if I can run my own race I can win it.

"I'm convinced that I am the best at the 1500m."

El Guerrouj now plans to concentrate on the 5000m with his ambition to win Olympic gold at that distance in Athens in 2004.

However, he did not rule out running 1500m again at the World Championships.