Marion Jones seeking to equal her team-mate Maurice Greene’s feat of winning three consecutive world 100 metres

Marion Jones, seeking to equal her team-mate Maurice Greene’s feat of winning three consecutive world 100 metres titles, suffered the biggest upset there could possibly have been at these World Championships as she was beaten to the gold medal by Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, who had ended the American’s 54-race unbeaten run in the semi-final. Marion Jones, seeking to equal her team-mate Maurice Greene’s feat of winning three consecutive world 100 metres titles, suffered the biggest upset there could possibly have been at these World Championships as she was beaten to the gold medal by Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, who had ended the American’s 54-race unbeaten run in the semi-final.
Four years ago, believing that she had beaten Jones to win the 1997 world title, Pintusevich embarked on a lap of honour before sinking to her knees in dismay when it emerged that the American had finished two hundredths of a second ahead.Yesterday, in the blazing sunshine of the Commonwealth Stadium, she sank to her knees and cried again, but this time she was overwhelmed by joy after finishing in 10.82sec, 0.03sec ahead of the defending champion, whose last 100m defeat was inflicted by Jamaica’s Merlene Ottey in Tokyo a month after she had earned her first world title in 1997.As Pintusevich tried to come to terms with the enormity of what she had achieved, still hunched down on the track, Jones – beaten twice in the space of three hours after four years without defeat – showed that she could act like a champion even when she wasn’t by wandering over and embracing her stunned opponent.The Ukrainian, dwarfed by the lanky and powerful figure of the American alongside her, got out of her blocks perfectly to establish an immediate lead as Jones wound herself up into full acceleration mode.This was the point, at tracks the world over for the last few years, that Jones took over any race. But as she unfolded to her full height, the little Ukrainian remained half a stride ahead of her and her dip at the line carried her through to a victory which threatens to re-establish the landscape of women’s sprinting.It rounded off a year of turmoil for the 25-year-old former NCAA basketball player, who won five Olympic medals in Sydney, including three golds, against a background of suspicion caused by the emergence of a positive doping case involving her husband, the shot putter C J Hunter, from whom she has subsequently become divorced.Jones’s progress to the final had not been without unsettling incident from the earliest point. Although she recorded 10.93sec in her first round – the fastest time ever seen by a woman on Canadian soil – it was not before she had recorded a rare false start.Had that occurred at the next World Championships, under the IAAF rule change agreed here before the action got under way, she would have been disqualified from the event, as the only allowable false start in the race had already gone to another athlete.”I had to tell myself ‘Alright now Marion, wake up’,” she said after qualifying safely.She received an even more urgent wake-up call in the semi-final, when the Ukrainian took advantage of her bad start to take a lead which she didn’t lose, finishing 0.01sec ahead in 10.94, and rubbing things in by raising her right index finger into the air over the closing strides.”I try not to get caught up in the streak,” Jones said after her quarter-final win “But I can remember losing to Merlene like it was yesterday. I hope it’s a while before I feel that feeling again.”Unfortunately for her, that feeling was waiting to arrive. Now she will have to work hard, at the Zurich meeting and later at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, to prove that she can reclaim the territory she has inhabited for the past four years.. Britain’s Jonathan Edwards regained the world triple jump title in glorious fashion with a massive 17.92 metre leap.

Britain’s Jonathan Edwards regained the world triple jump title in glorious fashion with a massive 17.92 metre leap.
Not only was that the furthest jump of the year – it was also the longest distance registered since the World record holder propelled his body a stunning 18.01m in Oslo three years ago.The Olympic champion is now 35–years–old and facing a host of young pretenders aching to replace him.But Edwards still remains in a class of his own.After the first round of the final Edwards was lying third.With his second jump he almost cleared the sandpit and there was no doubt it was well in excess of 18 metres.However, it was disallowed after he went over the board.Tonight Christian Olsson, the only man to beat Edwards this year on a cold and wet evening in Helsinki, proved he is the most likely successor.The Swede cleared 17.47m – within only two centimetres of the Nordic record he achieved last month – while third placed Igor Spasovkhodskiy of Russia jumped a personal best 17.44m.The Brit had been convinced he would again regain the his world title which he memorably first won in Gothenburg six years ago.The never–to–be–forgotten 18.29m leap at the Ullevi stadium seems likely to stand as a world best for as long as Bob Beamon’s long jump record and Sebastian Coe’s 800 metres mark did.The bubble burst in Athens two years later when he had to settle for silver and again at the last Championships when coming home with only a bronze medal.Edwards said: “It’s nice to show I can still produce jumps that long The second one was also thereabouts. I don’t know if it was over 18 metres – but it was only a small scratch I’ve seen those given before.”The third was a lovely jump I had to respond I had one bad jump and a scratch I knew I had to jump well I was already starting to feel some tiredness in my calf I’ve had a bad cramp in it.”The wind was swirling around. There was a two metre difference between my second and third jump. It wasn’t as easy as it might have looked.”The other guys looked terrific in the warm up field I had difficulties even to make the final I know I can win if I can get a good jump. But there’s a fine line in between.”Silver medallist Olsson, who was a teenage programme vendor at the Ullevi in 1995, revealed: “I had doubts about the competition because I hurt my heel in the qualifications and I hesitated in the final.”It is little more than a miracle that I was able to win the silver medal.”. On a night when Marion Jones was finally beaten, another American record was consigned to history at the Olympic Stadium in Edmonton. On a night when Marion Jones was finally beaten, another American record was consigned to history at the Olympic Stadium in Edmonton.
Bahamas’ Avard Moncur was the beneficiary of Michael Johnson’s absence, taking the 400metres individual gold in the first major championship for some time which would not see ‘Superman’ dominating the race.With Johnson in semi–retirement – the Texan now only competes in 4×400m relay races – the door was finally opened for someone after four successive wins by the almost unbeatable American.The 22–year–old Moncur took the gold with a time of 44.64seconds, but the real shock was Ingo Schultz.The unknown German only took up the one–lap race three years ago, but after shaving almost half–a–second off his personal best in the semi final, Schultz was only 0.23seconds behind Moncur.Jamaica’s Greg Haughton winner of three Olympic bronze medals was again third in 44.98.”It feels like a dream to me,” said an ecstatic Moncur “It finally became a reality It feels great Michael Johnson has done great things for the sport.

To fill his shoes is a major challenge – but I like challenges Last year I did not make the finals in the Olympics. I used that for motivation”Schultz proclaimed: “I knew I could win a medal here today. I surely did my best and that was good enough for a silver medal. I improved my personal best by a lot – something I did not even dream of.”Cuba’s Osleidys Menendez continued her great season by winning the javelin with a championship record throw.The 21–year–old set a new world record of 71.54metres in July and won easily with a throw of 69.53.Second place went to Greece’s Mirela Manjani–Tzelili, while Menendez’s team mate Sonia Bisset was third with 64.69.Menendez said: “I cannot tell you how much this victory means to me All I wanted to do was to win gold. I did not care about breaking any records.”The defending champion Manjani–Tzelili said: “I am very happy to get a medal Even though I am in good shape my technique is not I have been throwing unevenly. We all go for gold – this time I got silver.”In the last discipline of the first day of the decathlon, Britain’s Dean Macey ran a personal best 400 metres time of 46.21 despite injury to take the lead ahead of defending champion Tomas Dvorak.Macey leads by just a single point and will start the second day with a score of 4838 points.Trailing the Czech in third position is Olympic champion Erki Nool. The Estonian is sitting on 4531 points.Macey picked up the groin injury in the long jump.”If you’d asked me 15 minutes before the 400 I would have said he would definitely wouldn’t have run,” said British coach, Charles van Commenee.”Then he goes and runs a personal best – it’s miraculous.

No one could believe it – his coach or Dean himself.” mfl. The greatest women’s pole vault competition in history crowned Stacy Dragila yet again and brought another star to the fore – Svetlana Feofanova. The greatest women’s pole vault competition in history crowned Stacy Dragila yet again and brought another star to the fore – Svetlana Feofanova.
And if weren’t for the officiating, Dragila said, there could have been a world record in Monday’s duel in the sun.Dragila added a second pole vault world championship to her Olympic title, setting a championship record of 4.75 meters Russia’s Feofanova matched the mark for a European record. They both then went for a new world record of 4.82, one centimeter higher than the mark Dragila set in June.

Both failed all three.The American won because, three heights earlier, she only needed two attempts on 4.65, compared to Feofanova’s three tries.”I’ve never been in a battle like that before,” Dragila said, while Feofanova refused to call the result a defeat.”I did not really lose, but we more like tied,” she said. “One jump was the difference, we both jumped just as high.”At the end, Dragila embraced her rival near the pit and said for all to hear: “We’re both No 1 today. This is awesome.”She was less kind toward the officials, who caused several delays with wrong bar settings and rule disputes.”There could have been a world record,” Dragila said, lamenting the uneven rhythm of the four–hour competition.The problems included two instances in which the bar was set improperly, requiring a rejump at one height, and procedural questions. The situation was so confusing for the vaulters, their coaches and the officials that when the stadium announcer explained what was happening to the crowd, he added with a laugh: “There will be a quiz on this.”Dragila said that after she and Feofanova cleared 4.75, she had to argue with officials to let them immediately try for a new world record at 4.82, instead of the usual progression to 4.80.”It was just kind of frustrating,” she said.