Edmonton Gold
Marion’s greatest goal
Sean Wallce Jones for the IAAF
3 July 2001 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Speaking on the eve of tomorrow’s Athletissima Grand Prix in Lausanne, the Olympic capital, Marion Jones was adamant in her statement that gold in the 200 metres at the IAAF World Championships in Edmonton is currently her greatest ambition.
“The World Championships 200 m gold is on my list of things that I want to achieve in my life. Sure I am the Olympic 200m Champion, but for me the World Championships is the best there is in terms of pure competition and that gold (200m in Edmonton) is really important.”
And Jones has another ambition for Edmonton too: gold in the 4x100 metre relays, “or at least a better place on the podium. You know that we were beaten in Sydney by the Bahamas and Jamaica and I train with Chandra Sturrup from the Bahamas so I have to take it when she jokes about the Bahamas beating the USA. In the 4x100m I can really not boast about anything.”
Asked about the changes in her life since announcing her separation from her husband CJ Hunter, Jones takes the question in her stride: “You know, nothing has really changed that much, except that he is not travelling with me.
“CJ used to help Trevor with my work in the gym, so that is a load that is all down to Trevor now, but that is really the only difference – and I think that things are going pretty well.
“We are right on schedule with my training programme. We started possibly a little slower than other years, but that is fine. We have accomplished everything that was planned so far – for me to stay unbeaten,” a big smile lights up her face.
The long jump? “Oh I still love running and jumping, they are really my passion, but we decided with Trevor in November that I ought to give my body a break after the long season in 2000. We didn’t want me to overload, so we put the long jump on the sidelines for this year.
“At the end of this year I will start to jump again.
“Was I burning out.?” She bursts out laughing. “Not at all. I have a passion for running and jumping, so it was never a question of burning out.”
Tomorrow, Jones lines up against the two people slated to be potential challengers to what appears to be her total dominion of the women’s sprints, Inger Miller – the woman star of John Smith’s training group and the athlete who won 200 metre gold in Seville, when Jones was sidelined with a back injury - and Zhanna Pintusevich of the Ukraine, who currently heads the IAAF performance lists for this season with 10.93 in Athens on 11 June (Jones’ best time this year being her 10.96 run in Rome in poor climatic conditions, where Miller finished a disappointing 7th..).
Jones is one of the major attractions of this 26th edition of the Athletissima Grand Prix and the other star vying for the crowd’s applause (and it will be a capacity crowd, with less than 2000 tickets unsold at the time of writing) will be the fastest man in the world, Maurice Greene.
Slow off the mark in getting to the pre-competition press conference – “I was training and forgot the time, sorry!” – Maurice Greene will be looking to be a lot faster out of the blocks tomorrow.
The question that everyone is asking, though, after seeing Greene limping away after his victory in the 100 metres at the IAAF Golden League meeting in Rome on Friday, is whether he is injured.
“I have a slight problem, but I am here to do a job and I will do that job. I have a lot of pain sometimes, but that is not going to stop me doing what I came here to do,” said a determined Greene.
The problem? “I have tendonitis in the knee that is really painful when I stop running,” admitted Greene. “But it is not going to stop me doing my job, so I do not like to talk about it.” Matter closed, although Greene later admitted that he would probably not be running many half-lap races this year if the problem stays at its present level.
Lining up against Greene tomorrow is one of the best sprint fields a fan could ask for: Ato Boldon, the second fastest man this year and Greene’s HIS training partner and friend off the track, Dwain Chambers, the aspiring 23-year-old Briton, who has a seasonal best of 10.01, Greene’s compatriot Bernard Williams, also 23, who has been showing some great form this year and Patrick Jarrett, one of the upcoming hopes from Jamaica. Bruny Surin will be testing his shape too in the lead up to Edmonton.
The fans here in Lausanne may not see a lot of the compatriots in the sprints, but they will be cheering on Andre Bucher in the 800 metres, as he faces a qualified field, loaded with Kenyan talent with Japheth Kimutai and William Chirchir in the forefront, but also including Hezekiel Sepeng (RSA) and Norberto Tellez from Cuba, both of whom can turn in a handy time when required.
Other events to watch (and the whole meet can be followed by broadband users on the www.athletissima.ch site) include the men’s 110m hurdles, with Allen Johnson, Dawane Wallace, Terence Trammell from the USA and Cubans Anier Garci and Yoel Hernandez; 400 metres hurdles with Angelo Taylor, Olympic Champion and the winner of the Grand Prix Final last year, in a rematch with Hadi Al-Somaily, who followed Taylor across the finish line in both competitions. Fans of the spear will be able to enjoy Jan Zelezny facing Germans Peter Blank, Boris Henry and Raymond Hecht in the javelin throw.
The women’s line-ups are of an equally high standard, with a 100m hurdles including Gail Devers, Glory Alozie, Michelle Freeman and Delloreen Ennis-London; the one lap event with Nezha Bidouane from Morocco challenging her old rival Deon Hemmings of Jamaica, Cuba’s Daimi Penia and Romanian Ionela Tirlea; Tatyana Kotova in the long jump and a great field in the high jump, with the Ukraine’s veteran performer Inga Babakova, Romania’s Monica Iagar-Dinecu., Amy Acuff from the USA and Hestrie Storbeck-Cloete from South Africa.
