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Relay blunders rob Queen Marion of gold
SYDNEY, Sept 30 (AFP) - American sprint queen Marion Jones saw her chances of four gold medals slip away when the Bahamas swept to victory in the 4x100m relay final here on Saturday night. Instead Jones had to settle for three golds when she helped power the 4x400m team to the gold ahead of Jamaica and the Russian Federation. Jones admitted afterwards she was disappointed she did not get the record-busting five she had planned. "I wanted five and didn't get them. That was disappointing," said Jones, who managed the sprint double when she took the 100m and 200m titles and a bronze in the long jump. Jones said she was terrified before the start of the 4x400. "I was shaking it my boots. I was trying to be cool, trying to look like a 400m runner when I am not. "The other girls did all the work and I just went for a jog," she said. "Now I'm off on holiday." It so easily could have been four golds but for two blunders during the American handovers, including one by the 24-year-old Jones, that saw the strongly fancied Americans trailing home in third spot in the 4x100. Jamaica won the silver. The second handover between Torri Edwards and Nanceen Perry spelled disaster for Jones. Perry set off far too soon and Edwards was nearly left with no one to hand over the baton to. "Wait, wait," she screamed as Perry shot off down the track. Perry eased up but the damage had been done. By the time Perry took off with the baton in her hand she was firmly in third place. Jones, unlike Perry, went off too slow and even the fastest woman in the world could not catch the streaking Debbie Ferguson from Bahamas and 40-year-old Merlene Ottey of Jamaica, in her last Olympics. "It was a disaster out there," said Chryste Gaines, who ran the first leg. "When you make mistakes like that then you have no chance." Pauline Davis-Thompson of the Bahamas, running her last race, was thrilled to go out with gold. "The Americans never respect us. Marion Jones was in their team and we beat them. Now they will have to show us some respect," she enthused.
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