|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Too good Jones cruises to pair of golds, but real test is forthcoming
SYDNEY, Australia -- To this point in the Olympic Games, Marion Jones' drive for five gold medals has been a JV game. No disrespect to Mrs. Jones for winning the 100 and 200 meters, because the list of women who have done it before her is like a Track Chicks Hall of Fame: Fanny Blankers-Koen, Betty Cuthbert, Flo-Jo , Marjorie Jackson, Wilma Rudolph, Renate Stecher -- every one of them has an impeccable resume. It's just that Marion is way too good for the women who ran against her in Sydney, where she won the 200 Thursday night. If Inger Miller had competed, Marion still would have won both races (Inger would debate me on this point and that's cool), but the margins would have been dramatically smaller. Jones would have had to work harder, physically and emotionally. As it is, the 100 field threw up a white flag and ran for silver. "They should be ashamed of themselves," said 40-year-old Merlene Ottey, who had no shot. Ekaterini Thanou's second-place time of 11.12 would have made for a seventh-place finish in each of the last three Olympic 100-meter finals. Even allowing for the headwind and cool air, Jones beat a soft field that didn't have the guts to fight her. In the 200, Jones' victory margin of .43 was the biggest since American Wilma Rudolph won by a similar margin at the 1960 Rome Olympics. In the sprints, she's too fast and nobody else is fast enough. For the next two nights, however, everything will be different. Friday night is the long jump, and on Saturday night she runs both the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays. You already know the deal with Jones in the long jump. She's a huge talent, with sensational speed (duh) and great natural ups. Problem is, there's more to long jumping than running fast and jumping. There's properly finding the takeoff board, there's body position in the air to maximize distance and then there's the landing. Mrs. Jones stinks at all three, which makes viewing her long jump competitions like watching street luge. However, she's so gifted and so tough that she's still among the best in the world. X-FactorThe long jump ain't exactly thriving these days, either. Seven meters (22' 11 3/4") could win the thing and that hasn't happened in a full Games since 1976 in Montreal. Only four women have jumped more than seven meters in 2000. Italy's Fiona May hasn't been there since the spring, Inessa Kravets of the Ukraine is injured and not competing, and Russia's Tatyana Kotova is injured, but competing nonetheless. Jones is the fourth, and her one seven-plus jump was at the U.S. Trials in July. So it's wide open. I don't think Kotova is healthy enough to vault far in a six-jump Olympic final. I don't think May is tough enough. American Dawn Burrell has beaten Jones, but won't on this stage. Incredibly, it looks like the only woman who can fight Jones in a long, pressurized competition is 35-year-old German Heike Dreschler, who won the 1988 gold medal with an Olympic record of 24' 3 1/4", but will never again jump that far. Dreschler is one of the best long jumpers in history. If she can battle Jones into the night, it will make for great theater. Young superstar bidding for five golds against aging great. Good stuff. But make no mistake, Jones will either win or come very close. She will not shrink from the moment. The relays, meanwhile, are a mess. One point to consider: While Jones sits out the early rounds of the 4x100, Miller will test her injured hamstring running anchor for the U.S. in the first heat Friday morning. If the hamstring goes, so does Marion's gold. Whoa. ThunderousThursday night's battle in the men's long jump final between Cuba's Ivan Pedroso, one of the best ever in history, and Australian Jai (I'm not dark) Taurima was riveting on several levels. The customary Olympic stadium sellout crowd of 112,000 carried Taurima on wings of noise as he battled Pedroso through four lead changes. Aussies support all athletes, but they love their own and at times the thunder in the stadium seemed louder than that which carried Cathy Freeman in the 400 meters Monday night. Plus there was an undercurrent. Remember it was Taurima who said in August that he didn't expect the "darks" to do well jumping in the chilly Sydney spring. It was an idiotic comment, made more reprehensible by the fact that Taurima is Maorian, an ethnic minority in New Zealand. Taurima was referring largely to Americans, who bombed, but Pedroso, of course, is also "dark." Pedroso took the lead on his second attempt with a jump of 27' 4 1/2". Taurima, who was fourth at last year's world championships, matched that jump in the third round when Pedroso fouled. Pedroso, jumping in front of Taurima, went 27' 7 1/4" in the fourth round, and Taurima came up just short at 27' 6 3/4". But on Taurima's fifth jump, he went back into the lead with a leap of 27' 10 1/4". The stadium trembled. Watching the competition from inside the stadium was long jump world record-holder Mike Powell. "I knew Pedroso would go close to 8.60 (28' 2 3/4") at that point," he said. "And I knew Taurima wouldn't beat that." He was close. Pedroso went 28' 3/4"and Taurima could manage only a closing 28' 2". The win was sweet for Pedroso, who was injured during the Atlanta Games and missed a chance to deprive Carl Lewis of his fourth consecutive gold medal. "He deserves it," said Powell. "He's been the best in the world since the mid-'90s." Who to watchSuzy Favor Hamilton will be the fittest woman in the 1500-meter final Saturday. She cruised through her semifinal Thursday night in 4:05:25 and looked as if she could have run two more laps at the same pace. If she runs the final smart (big if), she'll get a gold medal. Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden is in Sydney covering the Olympic
track and field competition for the magazine and CNNSI.com. Check back daily to
read
Layden's behind-the-scenes reports from Down Under.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
