Both are recently crowned world champions but for White the joy of being the first woman since Katrin Krabbe to achieve the 100 metres/200m double has turned to misery.

Having tested positive for the stimulant modafinil the American faces the likelihood of being stripped of her medals.

Mutola on the other hand stamped her authority for the umpteenth time on the 800m, beating home training partner Kelly Holmes in Paris, and can become the first athlete since the inception of the Golden League series to scoop the million-dollar bonus just for herself.

"Money is not my principal motivation for running," the 30-year-old Olympic champion said.

"I just love the thrill of the competing and the fact that I am constantly faced with different challenges and challengers," added the Mozambique star.

White has insisted that she will fight to keep her titles despite the IAAF indicating she will probably lose them.

Though the stimulant will not appear on the banned list till next year it falls into the 'related substances' category and White's failure to indicate she was taking it looks likely to prove costly.

The 26-year-old claimed she took it for narcolepsy, a condition which causes extreme tiredness, and looks set to lose more sleep over her oversight but rebounding with victory here would prove a point -- if only a pyretic one.

However on Wednesday she said there was no way she was going to take any punishment lying down.

"I do intend to fight to keep my medals.

"I am disappointed about losing my medals. I worked the whole season for it. My reputation has been tarnished. But I do intend to fight to keep my medals."

She will face among others the woman who stands to take her mantle of 100m champion Torri Edwards and the Bahamas' Chandra Sturrup, who flopped in Paris after being the dominant sprinter in the first two Golden League meetings and should White be demoted she will move into bronze medal position.

While records did not exactly tumble at the world championships, Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie will try to bounce back from being beaten in the 10,000m by compatriot Kenenisa Bekele and break his own world mark.

The 30-year-old Olympic champion will bring the meeting to a climactic close as he runs with the background filled with the live music of a band from Burundi and he believes that will help him.

"I want to go for the record again.

"The drums should give me the right beat to go along with and I am hopeful I can lower the mark further," said the ever-smiling Ethiopian.