Marion Jones

Jones is the first female track and field athlete in Sydney to win five medals at a single Olympics and is back at Athens to collect more.

Born: October 12, 1975
Country: United States of America
Weight: 65.8 kgs
Height: 175 cm
Event: Track and Field (Long Jump)

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Olympic Record:
2000 Sydney Olympic: 1st in 100m, 1st in 200m, 1st in 4x100m relays, 3rd in Long jump, 3rd in 4x100m relay team

Other Records:
2002 World Championship: 1st in 100m
2001 World Championship: 1st in 200m, 4x100m champion
1999 World Championship: 1st in 100m, 3rd in Long Jump
1997 World Championship: 100m and 4x100m champion

Marion ended the 2002 campaign undefeated for the first time in her career…she was flawless with 16 wins in the 100 metres, four in the 200 and one in the 400m. This was after she become the first female track and field athlete to win five medals at a single Olympics in Sydney - gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x400m relay, and bronze in the long jump and 4x100 relay.

She was only 16 years old when she first qualified for the US 4x100m relay team at the 1992 Olympics. But she declined the opportunity to participate. She also missed the 1996 Games because of a broken foot. After winning the 100m at both the 1997 and the 1999 world championships, Jones was finally ready for the Olympics. And thus she made her grand entrance into the international scene.

Much has changed from the days of her triumph at Sydney, as she divorced from her marriage to shot-putter CJ Hunter and the start of the new relationship with the ‘fastest man’ Tim Montgomery and the birth of their son in 2003. But the nightmare for Marion started at the Olympic Trials as she failed to qualify to defend her title in 100m. She was surrounded with the doping controversy which saw her withdraw from the 200m citing fatigue.

But she qualified to compete in the long jump category with the world’s longest jump since 1998, 7.11m (23 feet, 4 inches).