Berlin  - Double Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion Angelo Taylor lost an appeal against his elimination in the world championship heats, United States team officials said on Monday.

Taylor was beaten for third place, which would have assured a place in the next round, by one hundredth of a second by Australian Brendon Cole on Sunday.

Cole was later disqualified by officials from the ruling body IAAF for illegally trailing a leg around a hurdle, but then reinstated after an Australian appeal.

This prompted a US protest which was turned down by the IAAf on Monday.

The IAAF were also dealing with a Kenyan protest on the elimination of 800m runner Janeth Jepkosgei. The defending champion fell after a tangling with the 2009 world leader Caster Semenya on and finished the race in seventh place.

A decision was expected later Monday.  (dpa)