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Four of a kind Bahamas wins gold in women's 4x100; U.S. thirdPosted: Saturday September 30, 2000 12:00 AM
SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) -- With her gold in the 4x400 relay on Saturday, Marion Jones became the first woman in history to win five track medals in one Olympics: three gold, two bronze. "I wanted to win them all, without a doubt, and I still think it's possible," Jones said. "But I didn't, so I'm not going to dwell on that." She is the first woman since Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988 to win three gold medals in track at an Olympics. The U.S. men won gold in the 400-meter and 1,600-meter relays, with Michael Johnson capping his golden career in the longer relay. Two hours after running the anchor leg as the U.S. women won bronze in the 400 relay, Jones ran a spectacular third leg as the 1,600 relay team won gold. Jones was a stride behind Deon Hemmings of Jamaica when she got the baton, but had a 15-meter lead when she handed off to Latasha Colander-Richardson -- who struggled at the end, but held on for the victory. Jones' split time was 49.4 seconds, the same split time that 400 champion Cathy Freeman ran on the anchor leg for the Australian 1,600 relay team in the race, which finished fifth. The Americans won in 3 minutes, 22.62 seconds. Jamaica won the silver medal and Russia got the bronze. An injury-depleted U.S. women's 400-meter relay squad was slowed by two bad baton passes and finished third, behind the Bahamas and Jamaica.
The U.S. men did much better. With 100-meter champion Maurice Greene running the anchor leg, the Americans won the men's 400-meter relay in 37.61 seconds. Brazil won the silver and Cuba took the bronze. In the 1,600, Johnson concluded his Olympic career by preserving an amazing record. He has won five Olympic and nine world championship medals -- all gold. Nouria Merh-Benida of Algeria won the women's 1,500. Derartu Tulu led a 1-2 finish by Ethiopia in the women's 10,000 meters, breaking the Olympic record by 44 seconds while winning her second Olympic gold medal at that distance. Tulu, who also won at the 1992 Barcelona Games, won in 30 minutes, 17.49 seconds. Gete Wami won the silver in 30:22.48, and Fernanda Ribeiro of Portugal got the bronze medal. The top six in the final beat the Olympic record, set by Ribeiro in 1996. In the men's 5,000 meters, Millon Wode of Ethiopia won in 13:35.49. Ali Saidi-Sief of Algeria won the silver and Brahim Lahlafi of Morocco finished third. Yelena Yelesina of Russia won the women's high jump with a jump of 2.01 meters (6 feet, 7 inches). Hestrie Cloete of South Africa won the silver, and Kajsa Bergqvist of Sweden and Oana Manuela Pantelimon of Romania shared the bronze. In the women's javelin, Trine Hattestad of Norway won with a throw of 68.91 meters (226 feet, 1-2 inch). Mirella Maniani-Tzelili of Greece won the silver and Osleidys Menendez of Cuba the bronze. In the women's 400-meter elay, Nanceen Perry left too soon on the third leg and had to slow to get the baton from Torri Edwards. Then there was another poor pass to Jones, with Perry having to grab Jones' arm to give her the baton. By the time Jones took off, she was in fourth place. She caught French anchor runner Christine Arron, but could not get close to Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas or Merlene Ottey of Jamaica. The Bahamas won its first track gold medal in 41.95 seconds. Jamaica was second in 42.13 and the U.S. squad won bronze in 42.20. The winners took a victory lap wrapped in Bahamian flags, stopping to bow at the finish line. "They were saying after the semis that the USA could get it done. And they"d have Marion. But I guess that wasn't the case," Ferguson said. "It was David vs. Goliath. First it was Marion, then Merlene I figured I was David and I knew I had to go out and run as fast as I could. It was just a matter of getting the stick across." The third-place finish ended Jones' chances of matching Fanny Blankers-Koen's four gold medals in track and field at the 1948 London Olympics. "I think if our sticks had been good, we would have won," Edwards said. "But we had a bad stick from me to Nanceen. She had to slow down and get the baton, and her momentum stopped." Edwards said the relay team had practiced with Jones for the first time earlier Saturday. "We were just going in kind of blind with the passes and trying to make safe passes," she said. "But this time it just didn't work out." Jones, whose drive for five gold medals in Sydney ended a day earlier when she placed third in the long jump, wasn't finished for the night. She was scheduled to run in the 1,600-meter relay later in the evening. In the men's relay, Greene crossed the finish line and thrust his arms in the air. The victory gave him two gold medals in Sydney, for the moment matching Jones' total. The United States has won the men's 400-meter relay 15 times in 19 tries at the Olympics, but lost to Canada in 1996. "I've always said I wanted to bring the U.S. sprints back on top, and now the relay gold belongs to the United States," Greene said. In the 1,500, erah-Benida won in 4 minutes, 05.10 seconds. Violeta Szekely of Romania won the silver and Gabriela Szabo of Romania won the bronze. Szabo won gold in the 5,000 meters earlier in the Sydney Games. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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