By Ian Gordon, PA Sport, Edmonton

Britain suffered their worst performance in a major global championships for 25 years when they brought their eighth worlds campaign to an end in Edmonton with just two medals.

The total was just one more than from the Montreal Olympics in 1976, when Brendan Foster was the only athletics medallist.

The triple jump gold won by Jonathan Edwards ensured there was no repeat of Athens in 1997 when no Brit took a title.

But the total - Dean Macey won bronze in the decathlon - was Britain's worst haul of the eight championships - three less than the five won in Gothenburg in 1995 when Edwards again claimed the solitary gold.

If it has not been for Edwards, who came perilously close to not qualifying for the final, then Britain, who finished equal 18th with Australia, would have been ranked with the likes of Haiti, Kazakhstan and the St Kitts and Nevis Islands, who all won a bronze.

"Thank goodness we got the gold from Jonathan," said David Moorcroft, chief executive of UK Athletics, who saw the squad slip from the heady heights of last year's Olympics, when six medals were won including golds though Edwards and Denise Lewis.

Heptathlete Lewis was forced out through illness while injury put paid to Katharine Merry, bronze medallist in the 400 metres, and 200m silver medallist Darren Campbell.

"Its disappointing that so many of our athletes were injured and were not able to be here," added Moorcroft. "Of the six medals we got in Sydney three of those were not able to compete, which is a huge blow.

"But the French only got a couple of medals and Germany have not had an outstanding championship. Loads of people have been complaining about post-Olympic blues and that has been a factor although we are not using it as an excuse.

"The Olympics were late. The huge amount of work athletes would have done to get to the Olympics took them close to breaking point and for some of them training again this year they have broken down."

Kelly Holmes, who had bravely battled her way to bronze in Sydney, was Britain's last serious medal hope on the final day.

But the former army sergeant could not respond to the call to arms this time as she finished sixth in the 800m in the Commonwealth Stadium.

Holmes, whose training was strictly regimented after she fell victim to a form of glandular fever and chronic fatigue syndrome, faded in the home straight to finish in one minute 59.76 seconds.

"After the year I have hard, I have to be happy with reaching the final," said Holmes. "I gave it 100and I got myself into the right position but I just did not have anything left in me.

"Because of last year, people's expectations were high but it needed a miracle to happen and one didn't. But it was a fantastic race."

It certainly was as Olympic champion Maria Mutola regained her world title after snatching victory in the final metres from Austria's Stephanie Graf with Letitia Vriesde of Surinam winning bronze.

Mutola regained the title she won in Stuttgart eight years ago with a stunning burst from third place to overhaul Vriesde, who had led for the first 700m, before just catching great rival Graf on the line.

The Mozambiquan won by just 0.03secs in 1:57.17 with Vriesde, 36, clocking 1:57.30.

Britain's Mick Hill finished 12th - and last - in the men's javelin final having defied an Achilles problem to qualify while Steve Backley crashed out last Friday.

The Leeds veteran, who was competing in his sixth world final, produced a first round effort of 77.81m, but fouled with his next two attempts to go out of the competition.

Olympic champion Jan Zelezny, who responded to an Olympic record throw by Backley in Sydney with an even better effort to take the gold, did it again to claim his third world title and first since 1995.

The Czech with the golden arm, who had qualified with a championship record of 90.76m, saw defending champion Aki Parviainen of Finland open up with a throw of 91.31m.

But Zelezny produced a monster response in the next round with the javelin finally coming back down to earth at 92.80m. Greek Konstadinos Gatsioudis was third with a throw of 89.95m.

Britain's women - Lee McConnell, Helen Frost, Natasha Danvers and Catherine Murphy - finished fifth in the 4x400m relay in a season's best of 3:26.94 as Jamaica benefited from a dropped baton by the Americans to win in 3:20.65.

The men - Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulch, Tim Benjamin and Mark Richardson - finished sixth as the United States triumphed.

The American's brought the championships to a climax with gold in the 4x100m relay in 37.96secs with South Africa second (38.47) and Trinidad & Tobago third in 38.58. Britain's sprinters could only watch from the stands after crashing out yesterday.