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Saturday, September 30
Jones finishes Games on golden note
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- Marion Jones wasn't perfect. She was
just better than everybody else.
|  | | Marion Jones takes the handoff from Monique Hennagan for the third leg of Saturday's winning 4x400 relay squad. |
Jones sprinted into history Saturday, becoming the first woman
to win five track medals in one Olympics: three gold, two bronze.
She is the first woman since Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988 to
win three gold medals in track at an Olympics.
"I wanted to win them all, without a doubt, and I still think
it's possible," Jones said. "But I didn't, so I'm not going to
dwell on that."
The U.S. men won the 4x100 meter and 4x400 meter relays, with
Michael Johnson capping his golden career in the longer relay.
Two hours after running the anchor leg as the U.S. women won
bronze in the 4x100 meter relay, Jones ran a spectacular third leg as
the 4x400 meter relay team won gold.
Jones was a stride behind Deon Hemmings of Jamaica when she got
the baton, but had a 15-meter lead when she handed off to Latasha
Colander-Richardson -- who struggled at the end, but held on for the
victory.
Jones' split time was 49.4 seconds, the same split time that
400-meter champion Cathy Freeman ran on the anchor leg for the
Australian 4x400 meter relay team.
Monique Hennagan, who ran the second leg and handed the baton to
Jones, faded at the end and fell to second place.
"I was just hoping she didn't take off too fast, because I
didn't have anything left," Hennagan said. "Then I gave it to her
and I saw her open up. Thank God she lit the burners."
The two medals Saturday completed Jones' record haul at the
Sydney Games -- she also won the 100 and 200, and got bronze in the
long jump.
"In a couple of days, I will reflect and overall I will say
that it was a successful games," she said, in one of the biggest
understatements in Olympic history.
The Americans won the women's 4x400 relay in 3 minutes, 22.62
seconds. Jamaica won the silver medal and Russia got the bronze.
Australia was fifth.
An injury-depleted U.S. women's 4x100 meter relay squad -- missing
Inger Miller and Gail Devers -- was slowed by two bad baton passes
and finished third, behind the Bahamas and Jamaica.
The U.S. men did much better.
With 100-meter champion Maurice Greene running the anchor leg,
the Americans won the men's 4x100-meter relay in 37.61 seconds.
Brazil won the silver and Cuba took the bronze.
|  | | Alvin Harrison, Antonio Pettigrew, Calvin Harrison and Michael Johnson of the U.S. men's 4x400 relay team show off their gold medals after Saturday's victory. |
In the 4x400, Johnson concluded his Olympic career by preserving
an amazing record. He has won five Olympic and nine world
championship medals -- all gold.
Nouria Merah-Benida of Algeria won the women's 1,500. Suzy Favor
Hamilton, trying to become the first U.S. woman to win a medal in
the event, was leading until the final 200 meters but then faded
and fell -- and finished last.
Favor Hamilton, who collapsed about 75 meters from the finish
line when she already had faded to the middle of the field,
collapsed again after crossing the finish line and was taken off
the track slumped in a wheelchair.
She was disoriented after the race and treated for dehydration,
but spoke with her husband on the phone and then walked by herself
out of the medical area and left for her hotel.
In the women's 4x100-meter relay, Nanceen Perry left too soon on
the third leg and had to slow to get the baton from Torri Edwards.
Then there was another poor pass to Jones, with Perry having to
grab Jones' arm to give her the baton.
By the time Jones took off, she was in fourth place. She caught
French anchor runner Christine Arron, but could not get close to
Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas or Merlene Ottey of Jamaica.
The Bahamas won its first track gold medal in 41.95 seconds.
Jamaica was second in 42.13 and the U.S. squad won bronze in 42.20.
The winners took a victory lap wrapped in Bahamian flags, stopping
to bow at the finish line.
"They were saying after the semis that the USA could get it
done. And they'd have Marion. But I guess that wasn't the case,"
Ferguson said.
The third-place finish ended Jones' chances of matching Fanny
Blankers-Koen's four gold medals in track and field at the 1948
London Olympics.
"I think if our sticks had been good, we would have won,"
Edwards said. "But we had a bad stick from me to Nanceen. She had
to slow down and get the baton, and her momentum stopped."
Edwards said the relay team had practiced with Jones for the
first time earlier Saturday.
"We were just going in kind of blind with the passes and trying
to make safe passes," she said. "But this time it just didn't
work out."
In the men's 4x100-meter relay, Greene crossed the finish line and
thrust his arms in the air. The United States has won the men's
4x100-meter relay 15 times in 19 tries at the Olympics, but lost to
Canada in 1996.
"I've always said I wanted to bring the U.S. sprints back on
top, and now the relay gold belongs to the United States," Greene
said.
In the 1,500, Merah-Benida won in 4 minutes, 05.10 seconds.
Violeta Szekely of Romania won the silver and Gabriela Szabo of
Romania won the bronze. Szabo won gold in the 5,000 meters earlier
in the Sydney Games.
Marla Runyan, the first U.S. paralympian to reach the Olympics,
was eighth. Runyan, who is legally blind, finished in 4:08.30.
Derartu Tulu led a 1-2 finish by Ethiopia in the women's 10,000
meters. She broke the Olympic record by 44 seconds while winning
her second Olympic gold medal at that distance. Tulu, who also won
at the 1992 Barcelona Games, won in 30 minutes, 17.49 seconds.
In the men's 5,000 meters, Millon Wolde of Ethiopia won in
13:35.49. Ali Saidi-Sief of Algeria won the silver and Brahim
Lahlafi of Morocco finished third. Adam Goucher of the United
States was 13th.
Yelena Yelesina of Russia won the women's high jump with a jump
of 6 feet, 7 inches (2.01 meters). Hestrie Cloete of South Africa
won the silver, and Kajsa Bergqvist of Sweden and Oana Manuela
Pantelimon of Romania shared the bronze.
In the women's javelin, Trine Hattestad of Norway won with a
throw of 226 feet, ½ inch (68.91 meters). Mirella Maniani-Tzelili
of Greece won the silver and Osleidys Menendez of Cuba the bronze.
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ALSO SEE
Track and field results
Not even Jones could save women's 400 relay
Jones still makes history with five medals
Men's relay team offends some with display after victory
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