Jones' final tally: three golds, two bronze

Relay teams finish 1st, 3rd to make her the most decorated U.S. track athlete at any Games.

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 1, 2000

SYDNEY, Australia -- Is it too late to enter the steeplechase?

Surely, if you can find another event for Marion Jones, she will find another way to make it to the medal stand.

Jones concluded the most medal-heavy Olympics of any American track athlete in history Saturday with a bronze and a gold in relay races.

The tally brought her up to three golds and two bronzes for the Games, surpassing the four medals won by Jesse Owens (1936), Carl Lewis (1984) and Florence Griffith Joyner (1988).

In other circumstances, Jones would be heralded as a track legend. Unfortunately, her publicly stated quest for five golds makes the three golds and two bronze appear to be a disappointment.

"I still feel in my heart I had a chance to win five," Jones said.

She failed in her quest, but Jones proved her point. She demonstrated beyond any doubt that she had the ability to win five golds; she simply did not get the breaks necessary.

Jones came up short in the long jump but only because she fouled on her final attempt. The last jump was far enough to win gold, but one foot went over the foul line by several inches.

She experienced similar misfortune in the 400 relay Saturday. A poor baton handoff between Torri Edwards and Nanceen Perry on the second and third legs cost the United States a chance at gold, though Jones nearly carried it to victory anyway by making up tremendous ground in the final 100 meters.

The 400 team also was missing two key members who had injuries, Gail Devers and Inger Miller.

"There will always be people who criticize Marion for trying to win five events, but if they watched, they saw it was possible," said Jones' coach, Trevor Graham. "She didn't pass out like they thought she would. She even took another victory lap after the final gold.

"You saw how close she came to doing it."

Judging by the way she ran the 1,600 relay Saturday, Jones might have gotten another gold if she had swapped the long jump for the 400-meter sprint. Running in a 1,600 for the first time since the Penn Relays as a college sophomore at North Carolina in 1995, Jones was electric on the track.

With Jones running the third leg of the relay instead of the anchor, she turned a tiny U.S. lead into a 15-meter cushion by the time she handed the baton to La Tasha Colander-Richardson. The United States went on to win by more than a half-second over Jamaica with a time of 3 minutes, 22.62 seconds.

"Trevor has been telling me, "When you come off the corner, you need to be ready to run that last 100 like you have never run it before,' " Jones said. "I was really concerned when I hit that last straightaway my legs were going to say, "No more, Marion, no more.' But they didn't, and I brought it in."

Despite her success, Jones said she is not planning to add the 400 to her cache of individual events.

"I have no desire, none, no desire to run the 400," Jones said. "It is too challenging of a race for me. I already have enough challenges in my career, including the long jump."

The greatest challenge in Sydney was one we know the least about. After winning the 100 meters and before performing in the 200 last week, it was disclosed that Jones' husband, American shot putter C.J. Hunter, had tested positive for steroids during the summer.

The revelation could have overshadowed what Jones was attempting to accomplish, but she managed to rise above it with her dignity and talents very much in control.

"When I first walked into the stadium to run the 200 meters, it seemed like everything that was off the track was just that: off the track," Jones said. "Trevor and I had a very long season. We weren't going to let something ruin it. We worked too hard, too many days out there in 20-degree temperatures, the sacrifices go on and on. Once I stepped on the track, there was no problem."

Jones said she will need some distance between herself and the 2000 Games before accurately assessing her performance.

Gracious in defeat, she nevertheless seemed a little subdued when pondering the possibility of the five golds.

"The question will be asked, am I disappointed? Yes, I wanted to win them all, without a doubt," she said. "But I didn't, so I'm not going to dwell on that part of it."

On The Wire