News14 May 2004


Barber and Jones in Long Jump duel

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Eunice Barber wins the long jump final (© Getty Images)

World champion Eunice Barber of France will clash with Olympic bronze medallist Marion Jones at the Home Depot Track & Field Invitational on 22 May.  

Best known as a Heptathlete, the World champion in 1999 and the silver medallist in that event at the 2003 World Championships, Barber thrilled a home crowd with a stunning final jump victory in the World Championships Long Jump in Paris last August.

Standing second and trailing Russia’s favoured Tatyana Kotova (6.74m) entering the final round, Barber enjoyed a thunderous roar as she steamed down the runway for the final jump of the competition and came down at 6.99m, for the gold medal.

The wild approval of the Parisian crowd confirmed her triumph: “This is a dream come true for me and it will stay in my heart forever,” she told reporters afterwards.

Barber who is currently second in the IAAF World Event Ranking behind the Russian, produced a national record 7.05 to win the IAAF World Athletics Final a few weeks later in Monaco (14 September), and is a favourite for the Olympic medal podium in Athens in both the Long Jump and the Heptathlon.

She will concede nothing against Jones at the Home Depot Track & Field Invitational at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California on Saturday, 22 May.

“This is the ultimate showdown,” enthused meet director Rich Perelman. “Here is mighty Marion, who wants to win the Long Jump in Athens, having to face the current World Champion. We will get a good idea of which one is best suited for the victory platform on May 22.”

To narrow the focus and keep the rhythm of the competition flowing, only three jumpers will compete: Jones, Barber and U.S. champion Grace Upshaw, who is currently ranked 5th in the World, and finished in eighth in Paris last summer.

Jones has already had some success in the Long Jump this season, winning her only two competitions: an indoor meet in Birmingham, England in February (6.75) and last week in Kingston, Jamaica (6.74) but she is well off her best of 7.31m from 1998.

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