Russians sweep long jump; Jones places fifth

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Tatyana Lebedeva led an unprecedented Russian medal sweep in the long jump, relegating Marion Jones to fifth place in her only individual event of the Athens Games.

Lebedeva, who won a bronze in the triple jump four days earlier, leaped 7.07 meters to take the gold. Irina Simagina was second with a jump of 7.05 and Tatyana Kotova won the bronze, also with 7.05.

It was the first time one nation had swept the women's long jump at an Olympics.

"After the triple jump, my coach said to me that I must relax and not be afraid to compete," said Lebedeva, the silver medalist in the triple jump in Sydney. "I have the complete set of medals now -- gold, silver and bronze."

Lebedeva's winning leap came on her second attempt. Simagina and Kotova tied on their best jumps, but Simagina took the silver because her second-best jump was better than that of her compatriot.

Jones, who won bronze in the long jump at the 2000 Sydney Games, had a best leap of 22-53/4 -- and it was wind aided.

Jones was trying to do in a few hours what few elite athletes can achieve in a lifetime -- win two Olympic medals, one on the track and one on the field. After finishing the long jump, she had an hour break before running on the U.S. 4x100-meter relay team in that final.

A bad baton pass ended American hopes in the relay, leaving Jones without a medal in the Athens Games.