SAINT-DENIS, France -- This time, Jon Drummond accepted defeat.

Faced with being expelled from the World Championships for his tirade on the track, the American sprinter avoided a showdown and pulled out of the rest of the meet Tuesday.

That still wasn't good enough for world track officials, who threw him out anyway "for behavior bringing the sport into disrepute.''

The International Association of Athletics Federations had given USA Track & Field a deadline of Tuesday night to sanction Drummond, who refused to leave the track after being disqualified from the 100-meter quarterfinal heats on Sunday.

USATF officials said they no procedures to act on such an expedited basis, but Drummond notified them he was withdrawing from the meet on his own and pulling out of the rest of the 2003 season.

"I felt very strongly that I was disqualified from the race unfairly, and I protested my disqualification,'' Drummond said in a statement. "It was never my intention to harm the sport in any way or to inconvenience my fellow competitors or the fans.''

Drummond threw a tantrum after being thrown out of Sunday's heats for false starting. He lay on his back on the track, argued with officials and gestured to the crowd in an angry, tearful tirade which disrupted the meet for nearly an hour.

The turmoil was the result of a new IAAF rule on false starts, which disqualifies a person who commits the second false start in a race, regardless of who commits the first.

Drummond, who had hoped to run in the 400-meter relay this weekend, insisted again Tuesday that he only flinched and did not jump the gun.

"My spirit is broken because it has always been my desire to provide entertainment for the fans,'' he said. "It saddens me that I will not have that opportunity this weekend or the rest of the season.''

The IAAF said it is now waiting to receive a full report from USATF on the conclusion of its investigation before deciding if any further action is necessary.

Some IAAF officials are pushing for Drummond to be suspended on top of his exclusion from the meet.

"I think it's a serious case,'' IAAF vice president Arne Ljungqvist said. "Athletes at the top level know they should respect the judges and the rules. Disqualification from these championships should be a minimum punishment.''

The IAAF also ordered the USATF to take action against Michael Cain, the U.S. national teams manager, who jumped out of the stands, ran up to Drummond and spoke to him briefly at the side of the track. USATF spokeswoman Jill Geer said Cain's credentials were revoked for "breach of security.''

Drummond, 34, won two World Championship relay gold medals at the 1993 and 1995 meets and ran the first leg on the U.S. team which won the gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He ran the opening leg on the team which equaled the world record of 37.40 seconds at the 1993 championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

"It is my hope that positive results will come from what was an unprecedented situation for everyone involved on Sunday night,'' Drummond said. "I hope that everyone in track and field can work together to create a better system that serves athletes, coaches, officials and the sport.''